Angels & Demons
by smylealong
Summary: After her brother's death, Orihime is starting her life afresh. But when a Hollow walks into her life unexpectedly, a whole new world is opened to her- a world of Angels & Demons. AU. Ratings may change later.
1. prologue

****Hello friends. Here is the new Ulquihime that I had promised. I am still effectively on the hiatus but I decided to publish the prologue of this story because I was missing you all. Also because I wanted to get this out of the way. The basic concept of Shinigamis and Hollows will stay fairly close to cannon, however, this being an AU, I am going to change a few things here and there to suit the story. Also, Orihime is going to be stronger than her manga/anime counterpart. Hope you all will enjoy the story. I am uncertain when the next update would be.

I haven't had the time to work on the next chapter of Trust to Hope and I cannot say when I will find time. My hands are a little full at the moment and hence, I cannot say for certain when I will get time to write.

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

White Flag by Dido.

Beta'd by Cerice Belle.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Orihime swayed her hips slightly, dancing to the tune playing in her Ipod as she sorted the laundry into whites and colours.

_**I know I left too much mess and destruction,**_

_**To come back again.**_

The coloured clothes were dumped into the washing machine.

_**And I caused nothing but trouble, **_

_**I understand if you can't talk to me again. **_

The white ones were thrown unceremoniously back into the basket.

_**And if you live by the rules of it's over,**_

_**Then I'm sure that that makes sense. **_

She turned the knob and water gushed into the machine. She added a cup of liquid detergent and closed the lid of the washing machine. The timer on her oven started beeping indicating that the cup-cakes were ready to be taken out. She crooned and danced to Dido as she made her way to the oven. She shut the annoying beep of the timer, took out a toothpick from a box and inserted it into one of the cupcakes just to be 100% sure. The toothpick came out clean. She nodded happily and put on a pair of blue oven mitts.

_**I will go down with this ship.**_

She sang as she pulled the tray out of the oven and inhaled deeply.

_**And I won't put my hands up and surrender. **_

One of her own hands was up in the air as she twirled with the tray, making her way to the counter. She set the hot tray on the counter, pulled off her mitts and looked at the clock. He would be here any minute. Still humming, she quickly ran into her room. Orihime loved this three bedroom house in which she had lived from the age of nine. After walking out on their parents, Sora had worked very hard and after a few years he managed to get a housing loan at an affordable rate of interest and therefore the siblings moved into this house which was truly their own.

She stopped in front of a full length mirror, checked herself and pouted. While she liked the dark blue denim jeans and the baby-pink ruffled halter top that she had on, her hair was messy. She yanked the Ipod's headphones from her ears and let them dangle as she quickly ran a brush through her waist length ginger hair and tied it into a pony-tail. She picked up a lip gloss and with quick, confident strokes, applied them on her lips. Her eyes fell on that small red pimple that had somehow managed to erupt on her cheek and she scowled. Normally, she almost never had pimples but on every major occasion of her life, her body broke the cardinal rule. Her sixteenth birthday, her prom, her graduation - all the occasions marred by at least one if not more, bright red angry pimple smack on her face for the world to see. And now, when her brother was coming home after fourteen days, the pimple simply HAD to show up. She picked up the concealer and carefully applied it on her face, blotting out the nasty red spot.

Just as she closed the box her eyes fell on her hair and she figured that something was off. Frowning she turned to face her right and stared. It took her a few seconds to realize what was off: one of her blue hibiscus hairpins were missing. They were a gift from her brother when she was a young girl and she wore them all the time. But now, one of them was missing from their usual perch on top of her ears pulling her bangs from her face. Where could it have fallen? She turned a full circle where she was standing, her eyes on the floor, but she couldn't discern anything shiny on it. She bit her delicate pink lower lip trying to remember when was the last time she had seen the hairpin on her head. She remembered seeing it in the shower so she whipped the Ipod out of her pocket, dropped it on the counter next to the mirror and walked over to the shower booth. Looking around she couldn't find it anywhere. After the shower, she had spent her mid-morning reading while lounging on the porch. Later she had vacuumed the house, made the cup-cakes and finally put on the laundry load.

She ran to the porch and looked carefully - nothing. She hadn't cleaned the dirt pouch of the vacuum and for once she was thankful that she had put it off it later. Quickly putting on a pair of rubber gloves, she spread a newspaper on the floor and emptied the dirt pouch. She fingered through the lint from the carpet in the hopes of finding anything, but all she got was a greyish tinge on her gloves from the lint. The hairpin was not to be found. Crumpling the newspaper, she chucked it in the trash can. She peeled off her gloves, threw them in the utility closet and walked over to the counter where she had left the oven mitts and the cup-cakes. She picked up the mitts and started shaking them with the hope that the hairpin was somehow stuck in there, but she knew it wasn't. A frightening thought was beginning to form in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain that it was true.

What if the hairpin had fallen in the cup-cake batter when she was beating it? She had probably spooned the hairpin into one of the cups unknowingly and now it was baked and concealed within one of the cupcakes. Her vivid imagination showed her scenarios in which either she, her brother or some unsuspecting guest broke a tooth on the hairpin while trying to eat a cup-cake. The guest then sued the two of them and they had to pay huge dental bill and legal charges. Sora had to take another loan to pay off the expenses and she too started working as a waitress. She could almost see herself dressed in the maid outfit, struggling through the orders placed by various customers.

Shaking her head, she reigned in her thoughts. She debated on whether she should cut the cakes to search for the pin or let them be. She decided that cutting them was the best option and therefore rushed to the kitchen and pulled out a knife. She went back to the counter and was poised to cut her first cupcake when the phone in the foyer rang. Sighing she put the knife on the island, cursing whoever it was who had decided to call. Didn't they know how much of a resolve it took to finally convince herself to cut those adorable little cakes?

"Hello?" She said pleased to have masked the irritation in her voice.

"May I talk to Miss Orihime Inoue?" An unknown voice said from the other side.

"Speaking. May I know who this is?"

"My name is Hachiro, I work with the Karakura police."

_Police?_ She wondered. Aloud she said, "Hello officer, how may I help you?"

"Miss Inoue, I am afraid I have called you to give some very bad news, could you perhaps sit down somewhere?"

Her heart dropped somewhere in the pit of her stomach as she whispered, "What happened?"

"Miss Inoue, your brother has met with an accident."

"Oh my God! Is he alright? What happened? Where is he, officer?"

"Mam, I am very sorry to say this but he is no more."

It felt like someone had punched her in her gut. She could hear the officer say something to her over the phone but it no longer registered. All she knew was that the world in front of her was fading as if she was looking at everything from under water. And soon, everything was black.

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><p><strong>AN: **As usual, Read & Review.


	2. Chapter 1

****I am back. My life is more or less back on track and my hiatus shouldn't last much longer. So now, here's the next chapter of this fic.

Bumblebee belongs to Transformers

Chucky belongs to Child's play

Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo.

I am assuming everyone knows about Harry Potter. If not...I dunno what to say.

Beta **Cerice Belle.**

****Thanks for the reviews, favorites and alerts. Please R&R

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

_10 months later:_

"Stay still, Orihime." Ryuuken Ishida's voice had a mild tinge of irritation, "I need to get the imaging done."

But Orihime couldn't stay still. She'd had enough. Between coming-to-terms with Sora's death, handling the accuses of her estranged parents who blamed her for their son's death, finding a buyer for her old house, looking for a new place to stay, getting a job and her frequent trips to the hospital owing to the head injury that she had sustained when she fainted on getting the news of Sora's demise, she was stretched thin. The past ten months had been a blur and she was eager to put it all behind and move on. She closed her eyes and told herself that this too would pass. In these ten months Orihime had grown up more than she had in all her twenty-three years of life. Sora used to lovingly call her his baby doll, and baby was exactly what she had been. However, in less than a year, she had learned three very valuable life lessons that she would never forget. One, everything in life was transient, nothing lasted forever. What was here and now was what was important and true. Planning for future was good, but believing that life would go exactly as planned was foolishness. Two, not everyone in the world was what they seemed. For some reason, a young single woman, fresh out of trauma, was seen as an easy target by a lot of men. She assumed that was because they thought she was vulnerable and there were enough douche-bags out there who wouldn't think twice before playing on a woman's vulnerability to get her to sleep with him. This led her to the third life lesson: you are what you present yourself to the world. She had realized that if you let your vulnerabilities show, you will be perceived as weak and therefor easy to take advantage of.

Sora's death had changed her as a person. For a while she had been in complete denial. She had attended the funeral only because her childhood friend, Tatsuki Arisawa had dragged her. She hadn't shed a single tear the whole time and kept asking Tatsuki when Sora would come back and insisted that he was late. Her mother had broken down at the funeral and started shouting at Orihime that she was the reason her son was dead. To Orihime, nothing of what the older woman said registered. She kept staring at her as if she was an interesting but ultimately unimpressive piece of display at the museum. When Tatsuki tried to stand up to her mother on Orihime's behalf, her father had curtly told her to take her ginger-haired friend away and ensure that she never showed her face to them again.

It was some time after the funeral, that she started seeing spots accompanied with splitting headache. When she was overcome with a bout of vomiting as well, her old friend Uryuu Ishida got worried and dragged her to his father, who was a doctor. It was there that she discovered that she had sustained a concussion, thankfully though her brain wasn't damaged. It took her some time to realize that she had hit her head on the wooden chest of drawers when she had collapsed that day on getting the call. Along with this realization came anger. Anger at her parents for blaming her for something that she had no control over, anger at God for being so unfair, anger at herself for not being able to mourn him. But most of all, anger at Sora for leaving her all alone. Had it not been for Uryuu and Tatsuki, she would have stopped having her medicines and ignored her health completely. They were persistent and ensured that Orihime kept all her doctor's appointments, had her medicines, slept properly and had her food even when she didn't feel like it.

It took her sometime to finally get over her anger and accept that Sora was actually gone. With that she had broken down completely. To her those months were a giant black hole. She didn't remember much from that time, except that Tatsuki was living with her and that sometime in those months, she had realized that she couldn't continue living in her current house and that she needed a job. So far, she had been living off of Sora's savings but now the savings had taken a serious hit and she needed to gather herself and start her life over. Finally, seven months after his death, Orihime started to put out sales ads for her house and look for a job and a new place to stay. It was during that time that she came face to face with the ugly side of the world. A couple of potential buyers had tried to get too comfortable with her, as did a few job interviewers and one potential landlord. It was her friend Ryo Kunieda who explained to her what was happening. She was a young woman, fresh out of a trauma, people wanted to take advantage of it. Sick to her stomach, Orihime had then done what she should have done a long time ago, approached a real estate agency. Not only had they been quick in finding out a respectable family who were willing to buy her house, they also found her a single bedroom apartment where she could stay.

Medically too her progress had been good and today was an important day for her. If Ryuuken Ishida gave her the O.K., then she was good to start her new job as a kindergarten teacher. She had already moved out of her old house and into the new apartment yesterday. If the older Ishida said that her health was fine, then she would finally be over the nightmarish ten months and be ready to start her new life. Therefore, staying still, as Ryuuken Ishida wanted her to, was a tough task. However, she somehow managed to stay motionless long enough for the doctor to examine her and be happy with her health. Finally Ishida senior gave her the certificate of health that she needed to submit to the kindergarten to complete the paperwork. Armed with that piece of paper, Orihime was finally ready to start her life afresh.

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><p>"Where do you want this, Orihime?" Uryuu asked her, holding up a flower vase.<p>

Orihime looked up and with a sharp pang in her chest she remembered the time she purchased this particular vase. Sora had hated it but she loved it. The two of them had had a minor argument about the vase with him finally relenting, as they both knew he would. He could never say no to something that she truly wanted; this vase was a case in point. Swallowing the lump in her throat she pointed in a random direction, not looking to where she pointed.

Uryuu looked at where she was pointing and then to her, "Really Orihime, in the bathroom?"

She gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Put it wherever you feel like, Uryuu. Better still, take it with you. I don't want to see that thing."

Despite her best efforts, a lone tear had escaped from her eyes. Quietly Uryuu put the vase down on a box and made his way to her. He cupped her face in his hands and tenderly thumbed the tear away.

"You know what?" He said, "Let's go grab a bite. I'll call Sado, Tatsuki and Ryo and we all can have some fun, just like we did in school."

Orihime smiled, gently pried Uryuu's hands off her face and said, "No Uryuu. I can't leave all this and go now. I need to finish unpacking as soon as possible. I start my work on Monday and I want to try and set up my apartment before that. However," She added hurriedly, "I will take you up on that offer sometime soon."

He smiled, nodded and got back to unpacking, carefully moving the vase away from her sight. As she unpacked, she thought back to the time in college when Uryuu had confessed his love for her and Orihime had turned him down. She hadn't been able to explain it to him that she didn't feel any romantic inclinations towards him. In fact she had never felt any romantic inclinations towards anyone in her life. She never understood why, but she had always felt a kind of emptiness within herself, as if a part of her had been missing. For some time she had suspected that she was incapable of loving anyone romantically but off late, she had begun to realize that she was actually waiting for someone. When and how she had come to realize it, she had no clue, but she was convinced that she was searching for someone.

Orihime had been heartbroken for her friend when she had to turn him down. He had been a gentleman about it and never once alluded to it. He had gone on to become one of her closest friends and had never tried to overstep his boundaries. However, in the past ten months, she had noticed signs that led her to believe that he probably still had feelings for her. It was when he did little things like this, that she became slightly uncomfortable and unsure as to how to respond to him. He was everything a woman could ask for, smart, intelligent, perceptive, mild mannered, sensitive and she could sense that someday he would make some woman very happy. Only, she knew it wasn't going to be her. She didn't know how to break it to him without sounding extremely rude and presumptuous, especially because he hadn't done anything that could be exclusively interpreted as him making a move.

The two friends spent the next hour unpacking huge boxes with Uryuu asking her every now and then where she wanted a particular thing. Orihime was crouched over a box of books, sorting the books in her preferred way when she caught a movement from the corner of her eyes. She thought it was Uryuu, but last she remembered, Uryuu had been in the kitchen, which was on the other side of where she'd caught the movement. Frowning she dumped the books back into the box and stood up facing the direction she had spotted the movement in.

"Uryuu," She called out, "Is that you?"

"You called?" the voice came from behind her.

She swivelled around to find Uryuu standing with an egg beater and a stack of glasses in his hands, looking at her with a confused expression on his face.

"Ah, you were in the kitchen," She said feeling a little disoriented.

"Yes. That's where I have been for the past hour or so. Why?"

"I thought…" She ran a hand through her ginger strands and licked her lips, "I thought I saw someone move, near the bedroom."

"Bedroom? Orihime, other than you and me, there is no one there in the house. I was in the kitchen and you're in the living room, how can someone be moving in the bedroom?"

"I don't know. I guess I am just tired or maybe it was a trick of the light." She bit her lower lip and turned to look at the bedroom again, wondering if it was really a 'trick of the light' or…

"You know what I think?" Uryuu said, cutting through her chain of thoughts, "I think you are tired and are seeing things."

Orihime scowled and said with mock anger, "Seeing things? How dare you suggest something like that?"

"With your imagination, is it so unbelieveable?"

The two friends laughed and got back to unpacking in amicable silence. Orihime however could not shake off the uneasy feeling that there was someone else in the apartment. Slowly, her wild imagination presented a horrifying possibility to her.

"Uryuu!" She called out.

The young man ran into the living room and came to a skidding halt, "What? Are you ok?"

Wide eyed she asked, "Do you think this apartment is haunted?"

"What? Where do you come up with these things?"

"Think about it Uryuu, other than us there's no one in the house and yet I caught a movement. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that this place is haunted."

The black-haired man shook his head slightly and offered, "If it's of any consolation, you are the first tenant of this apartment. You do remember that this is a new building, don't you?"

She chewed on a fingernail as she pondered on it, "Yes I remember that. But before that this was an empty piece of land for God-knows how long. What if someone was murdered here and buried without anyone knowing about it and now the ghost haunts this house?"

Uryuu sighed, walked up to his friend and playfully poked her forehead.

"That place hosts an amazing brain," he said grinning, "Only you could come up with a theory like this. Even if someone were buried here, don't you think the remains would have come out when the building was being made?"

"Yes but …"

"No buts Orihime. You are tired and hungry and your mind is playing games, stop overthinking. Anyway, Tatsuki called some time ago. She and Ryo should be here soon with a pizza and Sado will be joining shortly. They'll help with the rest of the unpacking, so right now, I suggest you sit down and take a breather."

She gave her friend a sweet smile, "Thanks Uryuu. What would I have done without you all? I am so lucky to have you all."

"Hey," he replied softly, "you would have done the same for us."

Her honey brown eyes looked into Uryuu's deep blue eyes and there she saw what she had been scared of. Before she could say anything, he slowly leaned in and took her lips in a soft, gentle kiss. Her whole body froze. She did not wish to pull away because she cared for his feelings but she couldn't let him continue either. She placed her hands on his chest and applied a little pressure to show her resistance. Immediately Uryuu pulled back. She saw the hurt in his eyes as he realized that his affections were still unrequited. He was about to speak when two voices sounded from the door in unison.

"WOW!" The two girls squealed.

"This is unexpected." Ryo said smiling.

"No no…" Uryu cut in hastily but Tatsuki overrode him.

"I am so happy for the two of you."

She gingerly put the Pizza on one of the unopened boxes and ran to hug Orihime.

"Ryo, Tatsuki. It's not how …" Uryuu started but Ryo cut him off.

"Quit being the shy guy Uryuu. It's perfectly alright. We won't interfere in your lovey-dovey moments, I assure you."

"Girls!" Uryuu screamed finally losing his patience, "It's not how it seems! There is nothing going on here, alright?"

A visibly annoyed Uryuu stormed out of the living room, leaving the three girls gaping after him.

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><p>Orihime lay on her bed, exhausted both physically and emotionally. After Uryuu had stormed out of the living room, the atmosphere in the apartment had been very tense. After a while, Orihime had gone to speak to him. To say that the conversation had been uncomfortable was an understatement. However, he did say that he understood that she didn't love him. He even apologized for crossing his limits. But then he said that he needed some time to get in control of himself and his thoughts. He left the apartment soon after. All this tension had a direct impact on their unpacking and as a result, a lot of boxes were still unopened. Tatsuki had showed every sign of wanting to stay for the night but Orihime insisted that she needed to get adjusted to living alone in this house. In reality, she had wanted solitude to get her thoughts in order and steel herself for what was coming day after tomorrow. The good thing that the next day was Sunday so she could sleep a little longer and continue unpacking. She stretched and cast a look at the lamp next to her bed, thankful that she had planned to get this with herself. She could never sleep in complete darkness. She yawned, curled up in a fetal position and closed her eyes to sleep.<p>

She had barely drifted to sleep when suddenly something woke her up. With a jolt she sat up, staring around for the reason she had woken up. It took her a few moments to locate it; a strange clicking sound. Once again her vivid imagination took over as she envisioned a possessed automaton that looked like a love child of Bumblebee and Chucky, clicking and clattering its way to her bedroom to kill her. Worried and scared she armed herself with a heavy photo frame that was on the bedside table, ready for the mechanical nightmare that was headed her way. However what came into her room was something completely different.

The thing that had walked in was, she supposed in a way human. It had a head, long black hair, a chest, two hands and two legs. However, that was where the similarity ended. He (she assumed it was a he because it didn't have any breasts) had two horns on his head, his irises were yellow and his sclera was green. He had broad, black, tear-like marks running down his cheeks with thin vertical lines above his thick eyebrows. His skin was chalk-white. Right in the middle of his chest was a huge hole from which a blackish blood-like thing flowed out. Adding to his bizarre appearance was the fact that his arms, his waist and his legs were covered in black fur-like substance with his appendages ending in claws. If that wasn't enough, he had two huge, leathery, bat-like wings on his back and a long tail.

Orihime gaped at the thing that had walked into her room wondering if her head injury had some belated effect on her that she and the doctors were unaware of. As she watched, the bizarre figure walked around her bed as if searching for something. It looked at her sitting on the bed, studying her momentarily, but then it seemed to lose interest in her and continued to walk around in the bedroom.

"Who-what are you?" Orihime whispered, but the thing continued to walk around, its tail and wings folded carefully, ignoring her squeaked question.

"Hello?" She said a little louder. The thing looked at her yet again but then resumed its search, completely disregarding her.

Annoyed at being ignored and more than a little worried that she was hallucinating, she hurled the frame in its direction such that the frame struck the thing on its shoulder. He turned around, finally facing her.

"You can see me?" He asked in a human male voice which surprised Orihime because she had expected a chiropteran squeak from him.

"Of course I do, did you think I was talking to myself?" She asked in an annoyed voice.

"You can see me and yet do not seem scared?" He asked raising his eyebrows.

"Scared? Of you? No. Only thing I am scared of is that I have lost my mind. I am hallucinating."

"Why would you think you are hallucinating?" The creature asked folding its hands across its chest.

"Eh? Oh I don't know. Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that you have horns, wings and a tail? Oh and a hole in your chest and you also happen to talk like a normal human being. I don't know about you, but to me, that seems pretty wonky."

"I take it that this is the first time you are seeing someone like me." He stated in a monotone.

"Damn straight! Not meaning to be rude or anything, but exactly what are you?" She asked looking up and down its body.

"I am a Hollow."

"Hallow? Deathly Hallow? Like Harry Potter?"

"Who is Harry Potter?" He asked.

Orihime's eyes widened, "You don't know Harry Potter? That's nearly blasphemous!"

"Blasphemous? I suppose I am unaware of the newer saints, it's been a while since I have interacted with humans."

Orihime groaned, "Harry Potter is not a saint, it's a cult."

"A cult?" he repeated, "What kind of sacrifices does it entail?"

"Huh? Sacrifices? Why would Harry Potter entail sacrifices?"

"Then what rituals does this cult follow?"

"What rituals? You can dress up as a character from the series in a comic-con, I guess but what other ritual?"

"I did not understand a word of what you just said, woman."

"Why am I having a conversation about Harry Potter with a Hallow? What the heck is a Hallow anyway?"

"Hollow. Not Hallow. In simple human terms, I am a demon."

"Right!" Orihime said exaggeratedly, "Well 'demon', do you have a name?"

"Ulquiorra."

"Come again?"

"Ulquiorra."

"Well, Ulquiorra, much as I am enjoying this pointless chatter," She said dryly, "but the fact is, you are intruding. This is my house and so, you need to leave."

"Intruding? Me? On the contrary, woman, it's you who's the intruder. This land has been my abode in the human world for centuries. I had to leave the human world briefly for certain unavoidable circumstances and on my return I find that my abode has been encroached upon."

"So, you are telling me that you are some being from some other world that has come into the human world?"

"I am a being of the Netherworld, yes."

She sighed and said, "You know what, I don't have time for this. I am going to sleep. You go back to wherever it is that you came from."

Saying so, she fell on her bed and promptly fell asleep, firmly believing that her overactive imagination had shown her a very elaborate and bizarre dream.


	3. Chapter 2

****Hello again. Thank you all for the reviews, favs and alerts.

Next chapter of Trust to Hope is in works and should be updated soon.

Special thanks to my beta **Cerice Belle**. Do check out her story Music to my heart, its fabulous.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Orihime cuddled under her blanket and firmly closed her eyes in a futile attempt to block out the light that was bothering her to no end. She pulled the blanket over her head and mumbled for the Sun to go away.

"The Sun won't go _away_, woman."

She shot bolt upright on her bed, her eyes wide as saucers. There in front of her, was the bat-man-thing, staring out of the window, lazily swishing its tail in a small arc.

"You!" she gasped pointing at him, "You're still here?"

"Obviously." It replied in a bored voice, without even looking at her.

Orihime blinked a couple of times as if trying to get rid of what she was seeing, but it was in vain. The thing…what had it called itself? Hallow…no hollow, yes, hollow, stood impassively looking at the Sun.

"I honestly thought you'd be gone by the morning." She muttered, more to herself.

In response, he just looked at her with an expression bordering on disdain, although she couldn't be completely sure, given the near expressionless face.

"Why are you here? Really?" She asked when she didn't get a reply.

"I do not like to repeat myself woman," he said in a cold, flat voice, "this is my abode."

"Yeah yeah, I heard you last night. But that's not what I meant when I asked you that. What I meant is why am I seeing you?"

"To that I have no satisfactory response. Your reiatsu isn't anything spectacular."

"My what isn't spectacular again?" Orihime asked, completely confused.

"Reiatsu. Spirit power. It is the power that enables humans to see us."

"Okay! Spirit power! Demon! Hollow! Wow!" She stared at him wide eyed, unsure of how to respond. He looked at her expressionlessly for a while then resumed looking at the Sun. That's when something else he'd said struck her.

"Wait, you said 'us'? You mean there is more of your type?"

"Indeed."

She held her head in her hands and muttered, "I guess Ryuuken Ishida wasn't as thorough as I imagined. He's definitely missed something. I will have to go to him again."

Orihime glanced at the hollow that was now looking at her. Clucking in exasperation, she threw the blanket off of herself and got down her bed. She caught the hollow's eyes give her a slow once over, as if checking her out.

"Demon or not, imagination or not, most males are perverted." She grumbled.

The hollow gave no indication of having heard her "What is that thing, woman?" He asked pointing a clawed finger at her chest.

Orihime instantly saw red, "You jackass! How dare you? 'Being of the netherworld' my ass! You actually had the nerve to point at my breasts, you pervert! What the…"

He raised an eyebrow and interrupted, "You are offended at a perceived insult, woman. The human female form holds no allure for me. I am merely curious about your garb."

"My what?"

"Garb. Clothing."

Her mouth opened to form an O, as she realized that his eyes had none of the lust that she was accustomed to seeing in most male eyes. Belatedly she realized he had been looking at her like one may look at a new piece of furniture. Interested, curious but ultimately dispassionate. Embarrassed at her own overreaction she looked down at herself. She was clad in a sports bra and a pair of PJs - her standard sleep-attire.

"This is a sports bra." She whispered, absently tugging at the bra strap.

"Is that common attire for women these days?"

"Ummm no. Not really. This is technically underwear."

"Underwear?"

"You know, what you wear under your clothes."

"But you are not wearing it under your clothes."

"That's why I said 'technically'."

He looked momentarily confused but refrained from saying anything further. Orihime sighed heavily.

"So, Ulq-Ulquiorra, that's your name, isn't it?"

He nodded slightly.

"You say you are not my imagination?"

"No."

"I find that very hard to believe." She said cynically.

Wordlessly he moved towards her. Inadvertently, she took a couple of steps backward. He stopped a couple of feet away from her, extended a hand and said,

"If I am indeed your imagination, you shouldn't be able to touch me."

Reluctantly she extended a finger, poked his outstretched palm and immediately jerked her hand away, breathing heavily.

"Oh my God! I can actually touch you. Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!" She clutched her hair, trying to stop herself from having a full-blown panic attack.

Ulquiorra however was nonchalant. He casually walked out of the bedroom, taking care that his wings and tail didn't bump against anything, ignoring the almost hyperventilating Orihime.

* * *

><p>The woman was inside, still muttering to herself as Ulquiorra walked around in the cramped space. He didn't understand why there were so many boxes around or why was this space, which the woman claimed to be her house, so small. He couldn't even stretch his wings or flick his tail because there wasn't enough space. But the bigger question was why was his domain encroached upon? He hadn't been gone that long, less than a decade, how had humans managed to intrude into his space so soon? He understood that time passed differently for immortal beings like himself and for mortal beings like humans, but he had never really thought just how different it was for them. There were about forty such cramped places, that the humans called "house", spread over the stretch of ground that had been his for so long. However, this particular 'house' had been the one that had drawn him. He didn't know why. For a few days the house had been empty and Ulquiorra could still move around, albeit with some difficulty. He spent the time searching for a clue as to why he was drawn to this particular house but then this woman had come by and taken the house.<p>

That led him to the biggest question that was troubling him; this woman. He had no idea why this woman was able to see him. In all these long years that he had lived in the human world, very few humans had actually been able to see him. Those who did inevitably possessed high reiatsu. Most of those who saw him ran away from him, screaming in terror. He could count the number of humans who had ever spoken to him in the fingers of one hand. Even among those, he couldn't remember anyone who'd not been afraid of him at all. This woman was an anomaly.

As an immortal, there was hardly anything that surprised him but somehow this woman had managed to do exactly that. Granted her reiatsu was marginally higher than most humans but that didn't ensure she could see someone like him, a low level hollow maybe, but definitely not a Vasto Lorde. But not only was she seeing him, she talked to him and showed absolutely no sign of being even remotely afraid of him. His first instinct had been to suck her soul out but something made him stop. It had been so long, way too long, since someone had spoken to him in the way she had. The last time someone had spoken to him like that were some centuries ago. He had been in the Netherworld or as the denizens called it, Hueco Mundo - the endless desert, at that time. He frowned. How long was it since he had thought about that trash? He closed his eyes, sighed and focussed his diverting mind on the woman again.

He had originally planned to suck out her soul when she was asleep, because that's when the souls tasted the sweetest (technically they tasted best when the human was scared and he knew hollows who hunted humans, scaring them till their souls were properly ripened and then devour them but he considered himself above such sport), but the woman had flummoxed him completely. He theorized that her lack of fear stemmed from the fact that she didn't believe he existed. She thought he was a figment of her imagination and that he wasn't really standing in front of her. But that did not explain why she was completely unafraid. He knew his form was terrifying for human eyes, so why hadn't the woman expressed any other emotion, except disbelief? Oh she had shown anger when she thought that he was making a lewd gesture at her, but he assumed that was a normal reaction to the gesture she thought he was making. Of course the woman had no idea of how powerful he was. She didn't know that he could beak her into two with one hand. Perhaps it was the lack of knowledge that contributed to her boldness? Whatever the reason, she was oddly unafraid of him and that was a refreshing change for him. Therefore he had decided not to kill the woman just yet. He was intrigued by her and that didn't happen often. He didn't know for how long she would hold his attention, but for now, she had it.

"Ulquiorra?" The woman's voice broke through his musings. He turned his head slightly to indicate that he had heard her.

"Look," she said, her voice firm with determination, "I don't know if you are real or imaginary, but either way, I want you gone. If you are my imagination, then it is really beginning to weird me out and I don't want to see you anymore. And if you are real, I am not comfortable having you in my house. So, please leave."

He turned around with some difficulty in the cramped space between the boxes, levelled her with a blank stare and said, "No."

"No?" She said incredulously, "What do you mean no?"

"No. It is essentially a refusal."

Orihime rolled her eyes, "Yes, thank you Mister Dictionary. Funnily enough though I actually know what 'no' means. What I wanted to know is, exactly which part of my sentence are you saying no to."

"The part that asked me to leave."

"And why is that?" She asked her hands on her hips.

"I believe I told you already that this is my abode. I have lived here for many centuries. If anyone has to leave, it should be you."

"Like hell I am leaving," She said with a frown, "I made a hefty payment for this place, paid those real estate agents for selling my house, my finances are bloody tight right now and I cannot afford to move again. Moreover, why should I move? I mean this is my house, I brought it. I have papers to prove it. I am not moving, especially not because my stupid brain decides to show me some ridiculous image that talks to me like it is real."

Ulquiorra held up two of his clawed fingers, "Two things. One, I am not your imagination. Two, do not talk about hell like you know it."

"Oh right!" she said, stressing on the vowels, "Being of netherworld and all. Well guess what? I have zero patience for you at the moment. I am going out. I hope that when I come back, you will be gone."

"I am not going anywhere woman." He said to her retreating back.

She spun on her heels and said, "We'll see about that. By the way, why do keep calling me 'woman'?"

"Because you are a woman." He couldn't understand what was so surprising about calling a woman, woman.

"Gee thanks Captain Obvious! What I mean is, I do have a name, you know. My name is Orihime Inoue, not woman."

He didn't reply, instead he resumed his search of the house, trying to find out what was it that was drawing him, making him want to stay here, despite the annoying woman who shared this space.

* * *

><p>"Why aren't you considering it?" Tatsuki asked as she took a scoop of her butterscotch-pistachio ice cream. "Don't mind me saying this, but you do need someone in your life, you can't live all your life alone."<p>

Her orange-haired friend nodded and said, "I know. But I am not ready yet. I am still not over Sora's death. Every time I laugh or enjoy myself, I feel a little guilty, like I have no right to happiness when Sora is not around. Ishida's dad said it is a kind of survivor's guilt and that it's normal, but really, I can't seem to move on. "

"I know Orihime," Tatsuki said gently, "but you have to give yourself a chance. Uryuu is a nice guy. He obviously has feelings for you, had them since high-school, maybe even before that. I never tried to push you to him or to anyone else before this, but now, I just want you to start having a social life. One that goes beyond a cup of coffee or ice-cream with me or Ryo."

Orihime absently played with her spoon, her mind not completely on the conversation. Tatsuki eyed the concoction with a combination of disgust and disbelief. She had a mixture of coffee & strawberry ice-creams, topped with salted cashew nuts, red bean paste (Tatsuki was sure she carried a bottle of it in her purse) and chocolate chips.

"Orihime?" Tatsuki probed, "Are you alright?"

"Hm? Yeah, yeah I am fine. I am fine. A little distracted is all," She said biting her lower lip.

"Distracted? Why?"

"The new job. You know, the kindergarten has a policy that you have to have a clean chit in all respect. They want healthy, normal people around kids. No contagious diseases, no mental illness, no criminal records, no large debts that can have creditors coming to the school to collect their money and threaten the children's safety."

"Yeah, I know. So what are you worried about? You are absolutely fine," Tatsuki was perplexed.

"Yes, yes I am fine. But, you see, I had a concussion and was on medication till not so long ago. What if that counts against me? I really need this job."

"Orihime," Tatsuki frowned, "You didn't have these worries when you went for the interview. Why now? You have told them all about your concussion. They were obviously satisfied with what they heard otherwise why would you get the job? You start the job tomorrow, why are you thinking about these formalities now? Also, if I am not wrong, you have submitted a certificate of health to them?"

Orihime nodded, bit the nail of her thumb and looked away from her friend. How could she tell her what was it that was worrying her? How could she tell Tatsuki about Ulquiorra? In fact, how could she tell anyone about Ulquiorra? She was in two minds, should she go to a psychiatrist and get herself checked? There were two unfavorable outcomes to it. One was that she would be making serious dent into her already low savings. Yes she had received quite a bit of money from the sale of her previous house but she could not in good conscience take all of it. Her parents had lost their only son and she had wanted them to have some of the money. She had tried to give them the cheque herself, but her mother had slammed the door on her face. Therefore she had asked a cousin to give the cheque to them. The cousin had tried to dissuade her, saying that they didn't deserve such an act from her, given how they had behaved with her, but Orihime had been adamant. Finally the cheque had been given and her father had called her to thank her curtly. With the remaining money, Orihime had had to pay the real-estate agents, buy her apartment, pay the doctors, the car rental and sustain herself. Financially, she was in a spot of bother.

The other direct unfavourable outcome was that she could lose this job she so desperately needed. The principal of the kindergarten was very specific that they did not want anyone who could harm the children's safety anywhere near the children. If she did go to the psychiatrist, and her medical records showed that she was seeing things, the school could determine that she was unfit for the job.

She could keep quiet about the entire thing but then, it might deteriorate further causing some real health issues for her. She did not want any further health issues than what she had already dealt with but she could not bring herself to go to a psychiatrist either, given the possible outcomes. Therefore, she let desperation push her hand in this decision. She would go to Ryuuken Ishida once more, get a thorough check up done and be sure that there was nothing in her brain that could be potentially screwing up her mind.

"So," Tatsuki said, cutting through her inner debate, "are you or are you not going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes, "Why are you thinking about those formalities now? Honestly, Hime, what's wrong with you? You are even more out of it than usual, and _that_ is saying something."

Orihime smiled at Tatsuki's use of her school's nickname, "Sorry girl, I am just a bundle of nerves. It's the first time that I will actually do a job so I guess I am a bit anxious."

The smaller girl reached out and held her friend's hand, "I understand, but really, stop being so worried. You'll do just fine."

She smiled at her friend, feeling a little bad for hiding something from her best friend.

* * *

><p>Lost in her thoughts, Orihime paid scant attention to where her feet were taking her. After she'd left the ice-cream parlour, she didn't take a bus, as was the norm, but chose to walk home instead. She had waited for Tatsuki to leave before she started walking, she didn't want her friend to be worried needlessly. She walked slowly, a frown on her face and her eyes focused on the ground, not looking where she was headed. It was only when she encountered a white picket fence, she stopped puzzled. There were no white picket fences anywhere near her new apartment. Frowning she looked up and gasped. Her feet had carried her to her old house; the one in which she had lived a dream and the one place where she had seen all her dreams shatter into millions of pieces. The place in which she had lived with and lost Sora. A racking sob constricted her throat, causing her to shudder. She hugged herself and whispered, "Get a hold of yourself Orihime, you can do it."<p>

It took her a couple of minutes to gather herself and stop the involuntary shiver running through her body. Slowly, with a lot of effort, she tore her eyes off the house, turned around and walked away, narrowing her eyes to prevent the tears from falling. She hugged her purse tightly to her bosom, buried her mouth in it to stifle the pained moan that was threatening to escape her lips and walked on. Yet again, she did not notice where she was headed to; all she could focus on was the intense pain in her heart. It was therefore no surprise that she did not notice the tall man standing on the pavement, bumped onto him and fell to the ground on her bottom.

"OW!" she said, physical pain obliterating the emotional one for a bit.

She had instinctively used one of her hands to break her fall and thus her wrist hurt. She rotated the wrist to ease the pain a bit. It was then that she noticed the man she had bumped on to and did a double take.

The man was looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and incredulity. He was tall with a crown of spiky orange hair, warm hazel eyes and sharp features. However, his attire was extremely bizarre. He wore strange loose black clothing that looked like they were very fashionable some four hundred years ago. It looked like two-piece attire with the top part shaped like a loose three-quarter sleeved jacket. The bottom was an extremely baggy pant with a white cloth tied at the waist. On his feet, he wore sandals and white socks. He also had a red rosary like strap across his chest. But the strangest thing was the gigantic sword strapped on his back. The man, who looked about her own age, kept looking at her without offering any explanation or assistance.

She stood up and brushed her jeans and resisted the urge to massage her sore butt.

"Sorry for bumping on to you sir," she offered as an apology, "I didn't see you until it was too late."

The man was now looking at her, completely perplexed, "You can see me?"

_Uh-oh!_ Orihime thought, _not this again._ "Wh-How do you mean?"

The black-robed man broke into a warm, easy grin and said "I had heard about humans who could see us, but I never thought I would actually see one. It's said to be pretty rare."

"Rare?" Orihime repeated dully.

"Indeed. But you have very little reiatsu, how is it that you are seeing me?"

"Who are you?" She asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Oh sorry! I should introduce myself, I am Ichigo Kurosaki. I am a Shinigami who lives in soul society and I rarely come down to the human realm."

Orihime stared at him nonplussed "What's a Shini…whatever?"

"Shinigami. An Angel, if you like."

"Angel? You mean you are not a figment of my imagination?" Orihime was taken by an increasing sense of despair and déjà vu. The words of this Ichigo Kurosaki were eerily familiar.

"Imagination?" Ichigo laughed, "If I had been your imagination, would you have been able to bump on to me?"

Orihime bit her lower lip, telling herself not to freak out, "S-So, are there other uh…things like you?"

"You mean Shinigamis? Oh yes, there are many of us. You should see Soul Society. It's the place where Shinigamis live. It's beautiful. I think you would like it."

Orihime nodded dumbly, her hands going steadily cold.

"However," he said, his demeanour suddenly serious, "since you can see me, there is a good chance you'll be able to see the Hollows too."

"Hollows?" She squeaked.

Ichigo however, didn't seem to notice her nervousness and continued undeterred, "Yes. Hollows, residents of Hueco Mundo which is also called 'the endless desert'. I guess if you call us Angels, you can call them Demons. They feed on human souls."

All colour drained off Orihime's face as she stared at Ichigo. She let out a small whimper and broke into a run, ignoring the Shinigami calling after her.

In her haste, she did not notice the pair of grey eyes that had been watching the interaction with interest.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Reviews please!


	4. Chapter 3

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and alert. Your reviews motivate me. So please continue showing your love by reviewing.

This chapter has not been beta'd.

P.S: To my readers whose work I usually follow, viz, CatWiththeHat, Gorguts5 and Lilarin, I apologize for not reading your stuff lately. I promise to do so soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

"YOU FEED ON HUMAN SOULS?" Orihime screamed.

The hollow replied nonchalantly "Yes."

"How could you do such a thing? Oh God! You'll…you'll kill me."

"If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead by now." He replied in his usual calm.

"And that is supposed to reassure me how?" Orihime's voice was shrill.

"Cease your shouting woman, it's annoying."

"Oh I am sorry," Orihime said scathingly, "pardon me if being worried about my life and safety bothers you. I didn't mean to upset his holiness' inner peace."

Before Ulquiorra could respond, however, Orihime burst out laughing. It started as a small stretch of her lips, followed by a soft chuckle which then converted into a hysterical laughing fit. She was doubled over, clutching her stomach, tears streaming down her eyes. The other occupant of the room stood staring at her. Finally, after a few coughs, pants and hiccups, Orihime wiped her tears and stood up straight.

"What was so humorous?" Ulquiorra enquired.

"Oh," She said, the last vestiges of her laughter still escaping her, "You didn't notice? His 'holiness', hollow, hole in the chest, '_holi_ness'."

Ulquiorra continued to look at her blankly.

"Oh dear God, it was a joke! Don't hollows have a sense of humour?"

"It's rich of you to enquire about someone else's sensibilities, Woman."

Orihime narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean? And please stop calling me woman! My name is Orihime."

"This morning, before you left, you were determined that I am your imagination. When you came back, you were screaming that I am going to kill you. Moments later, you were laughing like a lunatic. How does any of it make sense?"

Despite herself Orihime smiled fondly, "Sora used to say I can be pretty strange at times."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow.

"Sora, my brother. He died ten months ago." She explained.

Ulquiorra continued to stare at her.

"I still miss him, you know." She said wistfully, "I don't know why I am telling you this but I just want to. I guess it's because I still think you are my imagination and telling you anything would essentially mean that I am having a conversation with myself. So I think its ok."

She paused for a while before resuming, "Sora's death has affected me in more ways than I care to admit. I feel empty here," she placed a hand on her chest, "I have felt like that all my life, but when Sora was around, I could ignore the emptiness. Somehow I used to feel less empty in his presence. His death has changed everything. I constantly feel empty and now I don't know how to recover from it. I know Uryuu is there, he loves me you know, but I cannot. I just cannot respond in kind. I know that he's not like most men I know, he would never try to take advantage of me but I just cannot bring myself to love him the way he wants. I feel so lost, so empty!" She ended with a small sob.

Ulquiorra continued to stand there, staring at her, his face devoid of any expression. Orihime continued to sob softly into her hands. Finally, snivelling slightly she wiped her tears,

"I…Look at me. I am pathetic, am I not? Bursting into tears after talking to myself; can things get any worse? I am…"

"Woman, do you know what happens when a human dies?" Ulquiorra interrupted.

"Huh?" She deadpanned.

"I believe my question was fairly simple."

"What does that have to do with what I was saying?" She asked with a frown.

"Everything. You have to let go of your pain, for the benefit of your brother."

"What in the world are you talking about?" She was confused.

"By wallowing in your self-pity you are doing your brother a great disservice. This 'love' that you supposedly hold for him will prove to be his undoing." The hollow said flatly.

"You are sick!" Orihime screamed, "I just laid out the deepest feelings of my heart in front of you and you have the nerve to challenge my love for my own brother? How…"

"I do not claim to know what love is or how humans perceive it." The hollow looked almost bored, "I have forgotten my life as a human. However, your brother died ten months ago, a considerable time in the lives of humans and you haven't let go of him yet. Do you know the repercussions of it? In your naïve ignorance of the afterlife, you are damning your brother to a fate worse than death."

Orihime gaped at him, not knowing what to say.

"When a human dies, the soul lingers around the people it had its Earthly bonds with. The longer it stays, the more impure the soul becomes, gradually deteriorating. If the people who mattered to the person let go of him, the soul is free and can go to the Soul Society and thereby reincarnate. However if the soul lingers, it slowly loses everything save an all-consuming hunger - a hunger that is satiated by only one thing- human souls."

Orihime gasped, her hands flying to her mouth, "Y-You are lying." She whispered.

"That is just the beginning. Slowly, the tormented soul starts to lose its human appearance. Eventually a large gaping hole appears somewhere in their body," He emphasized by pointing at his chest, "That's when a new hollow is born."

"Stop!" Orihime whimpered her hands on her ears.

"If the soul is lucky, a shinigami will sense its birth and will kill the hollow. When a hollow dies, it simply disintegrates and is gone forever. If not, eventually a stronger hollow will drag the new hollow to Hueco Mundo either to feed on it or to keep it around for 'amusement'. Hueco Mundo has only one rule- eat or be eaten. One has to be an Espada to be able to break free of that cardinal rule to a certain extent. I became an Espada some centuries ago and I was only the fourth to be able to do so. There have only been six more after me. The rest of the hollows are still struggling to survive each day, each hour."

"Stop please," Orihime was on her knees, fresh tears streaming down her eyes, "please I beg of you, stop. I will do as you say, I will let go of him, but please, stop speaking of such horrible things. I can't take it, please. Oh God, what have I done!"

Ulquiorra looked at her dispassionately, "Your tears have no effect on me, woman. I do not care if you want to hold on to him or let go of him. I told you all this just so that you are well aware of the consequences of your actions."

The hollow looked at the crying woman at the floor and then moved away, into the bedroom.

* * *

><p>It was almost three hours later that Ulquiorra heard her soft voice,<p>

"Ulquiorra?"

The hollow didn't acknowledge her.

"I didn't know, I really didn't. I wish I had known earlier. C…I…Is it too late? Has he, you know, turned into a hollow? Do you sense him?" She asked haltingly, in a small voice.

"No, no and yes."

"Sorry?"

"No, it's not too late. No he hasn't turned into a hollow. Yes, I can sense him." He continued to keep his back at her.

"Will you please do me a favour?"

Uquiorra didn't respond.

"Will you call him here?" Orihime asked in a small whisper.

"He won't come when I am around. He fears me, as he rightly should."

"Then what do I do?" She asked her voice quivering with fresh tears, "How do I tell him what I want?"

"Go out and talk to him when you are alone."

"He'll listen?"

In response he nodded, still facing away from her. She muttered thanks and ran out of her bedroom. In the ensuing silence Ulquiorra wondered why he said what he did to the woman. Why did he even care? What was it to him if her dead brother turned into a hollow? In fact, wasn't it actually better for him if he did? A new born hollow was always a good meal. So what had prompted him to share something like that with the woman? The words had poured out of him as if they had bypassed the filter between his thoughts and his mouth. Never before had he told a human what happened to the souls after humans died, so why did he do that now? What was so special about this woman that she had brought those words out of him? Something about this woman made him react in a way he had never done. True he had withheld integral information from her – the part where the crazed soul attacked the one person they had the maximum attachment with during their lives. It happened more often than not. Most of the time, the attacked person died. This also drove the soul over the edge and speeded up the inevitable hollowfication. This act literally tore it apart and as a result a new hollow was born. He knew that her brother's soul was precariously close to losing its sanity and there was a chance that it would kill her. For reasons he didn't quite understand, he didn't want any harm to befall the woman. There was something about her complete lack of fear of him that intrigued him. Whatever be the reason, the woman held his attention like no one had ever done and he wanted to know why.

* * *

><p>Orihime hugged herself as she shivered in the cold, damp and rain laden night breeze. She wiped the residual tears from her cheeks, drew in a shuddering breath and slowly revolved around the same spot in a circle, as if trying to look for something she knew she wouldn't be able to see. Everything was just as she expected, the four light posts on the four ends of the lawn continued to cast a mellow light around them. The buildings that surrounded the lawn from three sides continued to look as they did some time ago, with light tricking out of a few windows. The pavement on the fourth side continued to be barren and the swimming pool on the other side of the pavement continued to glitter with reflected light. All in all, the scene was just like any other evening.<p>

"Sora?" She whispered gently.

There was no response. She laughed with a hint of derisiveness, "Sheesh Orihime, get a grip! What made you think you could talk to him again?"

She crumpled on to her knees, tears filling up her eyes afresh. She hid her face in her hands and sobbed hard. Ulquiorra's words, harsh, painful and bitter as they were, had somehow kindled a surge of hope in her chest that she would be able to see Sora once more. She thought that maybe she would be able to say the goodbye that fate had so brutally denied her. She had hoped that she could tell him that she loved him and he would always be a part of her. She would…

"Orihime," A faint voice sounded from somewhere indeterminate.

Startled she jumped up and looked around frantically. The temperature around her had dropped a fraction and she shivered involuntarily. Her instincts told her that there was someone or something nearby.

"S-S-Sora?" She whispered uncertainly.

Suddenly, icy cold fingers of wind ran runnels through her long, amber hair blowing it in a fiery halo behind her. Her lips quivered as her eyes watered from the onslaught. The frigid blast was like a slap on her face. It whispered her name over and over again as if the wind itself could speak in human tongue. Disembodied hands touched her, brushing against her as if the wind wanted to engulf her in a deadly embrace. Hugging herself once again, Orihime struggled to stand upright against the assault but found it becoming increasingly difficult. Finally, unable to continue her resistance, she dropped down to her fours, breathing heavily.

"Orihime," The incorporeal voice said hoarsely, "why?"

"Sora, I am sorry. I…"

The air was filled with a shrill, tortured shriek that forced her to clap her hands on her ears in an effort to block out the noise and relieve her throbbing ear-drums but it was in vain. When she couldn't take it anymore, she let out a scream of her own. Finally the cacophony of screams ended and a deafening silence reigned.

One pained voice tore through the quiet, "Orihime! Stop this! It hurts! Why? Why?"

Unable to understand his disjointed words, Orihime shakily got to her feet.

"Sora, I am sorry. I didn't know that I am holding you back. I am so sorry. I wish…"

The wind howled once more and slowly but steadily the particulates in the air gathered together to make up a solid form. Orihime had expected it to look like Sora's but what appeared in front of her bore only a vague resemblance to her brother. It had the same physical built, the same height and the same voice, but that was where the similarity ended. Its hair was long, wild and untamed in place of his short brown crown. Its eyes were yellow unlike Sora's warm brown. Its skin was strangely scaly and had a greenish tinge to it. More than a little scared of its unexpected appearance, Orihime took a couple of hasty steps backward. Unfortunately it only served to further infuriate the already angry spirit and it let out an inhuman yowl causing Orihime to whimper with guilt and fear. Was this her doing? Had she, in her self-pity, condemned her beloved brother to this? Her chest constricted painfully and her hands flew to her breast as if trying to ease the pain. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she watched the enraged spirit of her brother thrash about wildly.

"Oh Sora," She sobbed, hiccupping, "I am so sorry. I did this to you. I am so sorry!"

Suddenly, the tormented spirit stopped thrashing about and turned to look at the human standing in front of it. It stared at her long and hard for a while before slowly making its way towards her. Orihime continued to stand at one place, a sob stuck somewhere in her throat, unable to believe what her handsome and lovable brother had become.

Sora, or what had become of him, reached close to Orihime and took in a deep breath, as if taking in her scent. He let out a small, shuddering hiss. Then, all of a sudden, he swiped at Orihime. Completely unprepared, she took the full brunt of the powerful hit and as a result was thrown a couple of feet away from where she stood. Dazed and in pain, both from the fall and the gashes that the claws had dug on her skin, Orihime slowly pushed herself off of the ground. However, Sora was faster. He descended on her with a crazed fury, scratching and clawing at her, all the while howling loudly. Self-preservation overtook guilt as Orihime somehow managed to scoot from beneath him and pulled herself to her feet. Tears streamed down her cheeks both from physical and emotional pain, as she ran from her brother's spirit that was hell bent on killing her. She ran as fast as she could, but the spirit would not let her go. It followed her, closing the distance at an alarming rate.

"Sora!" She screamed looking over her shoulder, "please stop. Listen to me."

The anguished spirit wouldn't stop. Instead it gave a blood-curdling yell and raced after her. Orihime wiped the tears from her face and came to a quick decision. All of a sudden, she stopped running and turned to face the monster. If what Ulquiorra said was true, then this monster was her creation and therefore it was her duty to face the consequences. Steeling herself, she stood her ground as Sora moved closer and closer. However, less than two feet away from her, he came to an abrupt halt. He raised his head and sniffed the air. Whatever he smelled, he clearly did not like it for he screamed louder than ever before, causing Orihime to clamp her hands on her ears to block out the sound. Growling angrily, frothing at the mouth, Sora raised a clawed hand to take a greater swipe at Orihime. Instinctively she crossed her forearms in front of her face, shut her eyes and turned her head away, but didn't move from the spot. She was ready to face the consequences of her selfishness. But the swipe never came. Instead she heard a cold, steady and familiar voice say,

"Be gone. You are not to slay her."

The first thing she became aware of was that the temperature around her had risen. Gingerly she lowered her hand and opened her eyes. There in front of her eyes stood a short_ish_ man with his back to her. He had long black hair that fell to his collar; his hands were stuffed in the pockets of his pristine white clothes. He had broad shoulders and exuded a sense of power that was disproportionate to his stature. Orihime was fairly sure she had never seen this man before but something about him was oddly familiar. And then the man turned to face her,

"Ulquiorra?" She asked uncertainly for while he looked a lot like Ulquiorra, there were a few obvious differences. His tear tracks were now much thinner and cyan instead of black in colour, he had no horns, no wings, no tail, and his hands looked like human hands but most important of all, his eyes were a startling, almost inhuman green.

"Yes."

"Wh – wh - Where is Sora? What happened?" She looked around frantically, Sora was nowhere to be seen.

"That soul is hiding for the time being. He attacked you."

"Why? Why? Why?" Orihime couldn't stop herself from repeating that one word over and over again. In front of her, Ulquiorra sighed.

"Keep quiet woman," he said harshly, "asking the same question hundred times won't change the answer. You know why he attacked you."

The complete lack of sympathy coupled with the truth of his words brought Orihime to her senses. She was overcome by a bout of shivers and she hugged herself around the middle to overcome them. After a while, when the adrenaline had receded, she unsteadily ventured forth a question,

"Will Sora come back? Can I undo the damage I have done?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and nodded.

"What if a Shinigami kills him before that?" She asked shakily.

"Shinigamis don't kill someone like him. There is still a chance that the soul will be freed of its earthly bonds and pass on to Soul Society. "

"But you said…"

"I said a shinigami will kill a new hollow," He overrode her objection, "He isn't a hollow yet. He's close to becoming one, but is not one yet. You still have time to reverse the damage you have done so foolishly."

Orihime nodded. She stood there silently, bathing in the artificial light of the lampposts. Ulquiorra stood in front of her, his hands shoved in his pockets, his eyes fixed on something behind her. After a while she asked yet another question,

"What happened to you? You look…different." Her voice was much steadier now.

"I am in my human form. I use this form when I desire to interact with humans."

"You are a shape-shifting demon?" Orihime asked. On some level, she knew she should be afraid. The thing that her brother had become had easily overcome her, leaving her bruised and battered. Ulquiorra, whatever he was, was strong enough to scare Sora off into hiding. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was incredibly powerful. However, fear was the last thing she was feeling at the moment. For reasons that she didn't know, she was feeling a sense of security around him.

"No. I am a Vasto Lorde," At her confused expression, he elaborated, "An average hollow is invisible to normal human-beings. Some people who have a marginally higher level of reiatsu, like you, should be able to see the lowest of hollows. Hollows of the class Gillian and above should be invisible to you. That's why when the Gillians and Adjucas enter the human world, they are mostly undetected. However, a person with a high reiatsu can see them. An Espada can choose whether or not he wants to be seen. Each Espada has a minimum of two forms. The one in which you saw me, is the form I am mostly in, when I don't want to be seen. It is also my most powerful form. I take this form when I want to be seen. "

"So you are an Es…Espada." She said confused.

He nodded.

"But you said you are some kind of a Lord?" She was struggling with information overload.

"Lord? Lorde. Vasto Lorde. The highest kind of hollows there is. There are only four Vasto Lordes in Hueco Mundo. The Espadas are a group of ten hollows that have two forms. The Vasto Lordes are also a part of that group." He explained patiently.

"So essentially you are the cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae?" She said brightly in an effort to bring the conversation to levels she could understand.

"What?" He was nonplussed.

"Never mind. Let's go."

She spun on her heels and started walking. She did not notice the look of complete confusion that she received from the Vasto Lorde standing behind her. Shaking his head as if to dislodge something stuck there, he followed her. They walked in silence to her apartment. As she put her key into the key-hole, a thought crossed her mind.

"I take it you will not leave the house."

"No." He said stepping inside and morphing into his winged form.

Momentarily dazed by the transformation, Orihime blinked, "I am not leaving this house either. I have a lot running on it. So we are stuck at an impasse."

Ulquiorra folded his hands and waited for her to continue talking.

"So here's what I suggest, we continue to share the space. You don't meddle in what I do and I don't poke my nose in your business."

Ulquiorra levelled her with an impassive stare for a few moments before saying, "You realise I can kill you whenever I want to." It wasn't a question.

"Yes. I was coming to that. If you wanted to kill me, I would have already been dead by now."

Recognizing his own words thrown back at him, Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow.

"Since I am not dead yet, I am offering this. You don't kill me; you let me live and in return I face Sora by myself, without your help."

"No."

"No? What do you mean by no? And please don't tell me it means a refusal."

"I refuse to share space with you on those terms." He retorted flatly.

She barely contained the exasperated sigh from escaping her lips, "Alright, then what do you want me to do in return?"

"Think again, woman." His voice held the briefest of warnings, "You are striking a deal with a Vasto Lorde, go back on your word and you risk losing more than just your life."

"I have thought about it. You saved my life, this is the least I can do. Tell me what do you want me to do?"

"Show me the human world of today."

"Deal." She said firmly.


	5. Chapter 4

****This chapter has not been Beta'd

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Orihime lay on her bed that night wondering exactly how many levels of insanity did one have to pass to get to the level that she was in. In the course of one evening, not only had she managed to endanger her life, she'd changed her beliefs about supernatural entities, made a pact with the devil – granted Ulquiorra may not be THE devil per se – but he was close enough, given that he could feed on her soul when he wanted a change of taste and now she had him as a roommate. Either she was insane or extremely foolhardy; she preferred to believe it was the former. She could hear the _swish-swish_ of the tail of the subject of her thoughts as he sat on the window sill, looking at the moon.

_He sure loves the celestial bodies._ She thought wryly. Thinking of something she called out, "Ulquiorra?"

The hollow did not respond but from the slight stiffening of his shoulders she knew he'd heard her.

"I met a Shinigami today," She said slowly.

Ulquiorra turned his head a bit, indicating that she had his attention.

"That's how I came to know that Hollows consume human souls."

"I figured." He said in a low voice.

_He has a nice voice._ She thought, surprising herself. _What am I doing admiring a demon's voice? _Giving herself a mental shake she continued to speak,

"Aren't you worried? This Shinigami may kill you, right?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and made a small derisive sound, "This low grade Shinigami who did not even sense my reiatsu around you is going to kill me?"

"You mean you can sense other people's re … re … reisatu? No, that's not it. Reiatsu. Right? You can sense other people's reiatsu on me?"

Ulquiorra nodded, "Yes, any contact with a supernatural being will leave traces of its reiatsu on the human. I sense him and your brother on you."

"So you are telling me that he is not strong enough to kill you?" Somehow his words did not come across as arrogant. Instead it sounded like he was stating facts.

"No he's not." Ulquiorra said dismissively.

Orihime let the matter of the Shinigami be. After all she had promised to stay away from his business. She decided to change the topic,

"Why did you take your human form earlier today?"

"For a mortal who has just had a brush with death, you seem to be asking a lot of impertinent questions." He replied brusquely. She opened her mouth to speak but he dropped out of the window and flew into the night, leaving a very confused Orihime staring after him.

"Men!" She muttered, flicked the sheet on herself and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile Ulquiorra flew over Karakura town, paying scant attention to the glittering vista below him. His mind was in turmoil and it was all owing to that woman. He had decided that he would watch the exchange between her and her brother from afar. He stood at a place where he was near enough to see what was happening between the two but was far enough for the soul to feel safe to approach her. When the soul had taken a swipe at her, an unfamiliar and a very primal rage had filled every fibre of his being. He had to exercise all of his considerable will power to stop himself from rushing in and devouring the soul. Then as he watched the woman managed to escape from him and save herself. But then she turned around to face the crazed spirit. He couldn't decide whether it was bravery or stupidity that made her do it but he supposed the two went hand-in-hand. He had been telling himself that he wouldn't interfere but apparently his body had other plans for it acted of its own accord. He transformed, used sonido and placed himself between the brother and the sister. Sora, unlike his sister, knew when he was hopelessly outmatched and thus he fled – a wise decision in his eyes. However, the woman was cut out of an entirely different cloth. Not only had she managed to shake off an incident that would badly scare any other mortal, she also had the gall to strike a deal with him. Perhaps not even Starrk would have dared to do that – although he wondered if 'dared' was the right word to use in context with Starrk; 'cared' was probably a more appropriate word, given that all the Espada seemed to want is to sleep. So, he wasn't quite sure about Starrk but he was fairly certain that no other Espada, Grimmjow included, would dare to strike a deal with him. Grimmjow, for all his bravado, knew his limits and he wouldn't dare to cross them.<p>

Slowly he swooped down and perched himself on top of a tree. He looked around to find himself surrounded by structures that humans seemed to love to build, the ones they called 'house'. Never before had he quite paid attention to these things because he considered humans to be weak and thereby undeserving of even his curiosity. However, now he found himself yearning to learn more about them and why they did what they did. Ever since he had come across this woman, he had been acting out of character and that was irritating him. It was as though he wasn't in control of himself and he didn't like it, not one bit. He had no idea why he had transformed into his human-like form, or why he had stopped the soul from killing her and he certainly didn't know what made him want to know more about 'the human world of today.'

_Well what is done is done._ He told himself. It had been ages since he had been curious about anything, so he believed there was no harm in indulging himself. He was about to take off from the tree and head back to the 'house' when something held him back.

"Are you about to attack me, Shinigami?" His voice rang out into the night.

From the shadows stepped out a tall, lean man with messy, pale blond hair and grey eyes. He didn't wear the standard Shinigami clothes but a green shirt and pant. Physically, his only nod to his Shinigami heritage was the Haori. His reiatsu though was off the charts. Ulquiorra had a feeling he was purposely showing off, perhaps to intimidate because there was no way a Shinigami as powerful as him didn't know how to mask his reiatsu.

"Ah no," He replied jovially, his fan shielding the lower half of his face. "I am not a fool to take on a Vasto Lorde singlehandedly."

_So he knows exactly what he's dealing with. _Ulquiorra mused. He descended from his perch and landed in front of the Shinigami. Being several inches shorter, he had to look up to look into his eyes but still managed to give off an air of superiority.

"I assume you have a very valid reason for accosting me like this?" The hollow enquired.

"My apologies if I disturbed your musings, O exalted one," The Shinigami continued playfully. If he was intimidated by the proximity of the powerful hollow, he was doing a good job of hiding it, "But you see I had to come to you."

"I suppose you will eventually tell me exactly why you _had_ to come."

The Shinigami may have grinned because the corner of his eyes crinkled, but since the fan still obscured the lower half of his face, Ulquiorra wasn't sure.

"My name is Kisuke Urahara, you may have heard of me?" The man's voice was irritatingly happy.

"Can't say I have." Ulquiorra had in fact known exactly who he was as soon as he saw the haori and the fan but he wasn't going to stroke the Shinigami's already overlarge ego by telling him that the Espadas considered him to be a formidable enemy. He may not have the power to kill Ulquiorra, but he certainly possessed the cunning to seriously injure him. Ulquiorra didn't want to hand over any advantage to an enemy so ingenious.

"Ho? Tsk, that is bad," Urahara lowered his fan to show the downward twist to his mouth indicating his unhappiness, "I was hoping to make a grand entrance, giving a face to a famous name," His voice held a barely concealed glee.

"And I was hoping that having introduced yourself, you'd be done with the theatrics and get to the point," Ulquiorra folded his hands in front of his chest to stop himself from smacking the irritating man.

"Well to the point then," He said his demeanour suddenly business like. "I am here for Orihime."

_The woman? She did mention meeting a Shinigami, could it have been him? His reiatsu seems different though._ Despite his doubts, Ulquiorra remained silent, waiting for the Shinigami to continue.

"You see Orihime is under my protection. She's been my ward since she was a child of six." Urahara was staring at him shrewdly.

Ulquiorra continued to remain silent.

"I know you occupy the stretch of land that has Orihime's current house. I also know that you have met with her and seem to be staying in the very house she occupies. It is therefore my duty to tell you, harm a hair on her head and you'll have me to deal with."

"Are you threatening me Shinigami?" Ulquiorra asked silkily.

"Why yes, I suppose I am." Urahara matched Ulquiorra's tone.

"Tell me, if she is under your protection and you care so much about her, why did you let her come to that place when you knew I resided there? Also, why didn't you tell her about her brother?"

Urahara gazed at Ulquiorra for a while, his expression unreadable. Then abruptly he said, "What I chose to reveal to or withhold from my ward is none of your business. Just bear in mind that should anything untoward happen to her, you'll be very sorry."

With that the Shinigami waved his fan cheerily and walked away. Ulquiorra continued to stare after him long after darkness had enveloped him. Finally he inhaled deeply and took off into the night.

* * *

><p>Sado Yasutora always worked late because he owned a pub. Technically it was his grandfather's but the old man had all but given the pub over to his grandson. It was almost two in the morning when he closed the doors of the pub, pocketed the keys, suppressed a yawn and started his short walk home. On days like this, he was especially thankful for the fact that his house was so close to the pub. As he turned into the alley he heard a masculine voice call out his name from behind. Surprised he turned around but there was no one in sight.<p>

"Down here big boy," The voice said again.

Looking down his eyes met a sight that caused him to blink a couple of times. A black cat sat under the light of a lamp-post staring up at him. Sado loved animals and therefore he bent down to pet it, the cat however stood up and said,

"Don't touch me, you reek of alcohol."

Sado nearly fell flat on his face with sheer surprise. He somehow managed to control his fall and sputtered,

"You… You are a cat."

"Yes, thanks for pointing the obvious. Next time I have an identity crisis, I know who to approach," The cat replied dryly.

"But…But how is a cat speaking?"

"That is not important," The animal said dismissively, "What's important is that you are about to get a new friend."

Sado was perplexed, "What?"

That was the last thing he remembered of that night.

* * *

><p>"Ryo Kunieda?"<p>

Ryo shot up in her bed and looked around frantically. As the last remnants of sleep left her she saw a small black haired woman sat on her bed, holding aloft what looked like a candy dispenser with a plastic bunny on top of it. Before she could scream, a bright light shone into her eyes.

Ryo would remember nothing of that night.

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><p>Orihime sat on the cramped bus seat next to Ulquiorra, both lost in their own thoughts. That morning she had woken up to find herself sore all over but it wasn't a surprise given the events of the previous evening. She had quickly dressed and dashed out of her apartment to find an internet parlour nearby. She found a couple of PDFs on table manners and regular etiquettes took prints and dashed back to her apartment. She handed them to a silent Ulquiorra, hurriedly explaining that he needed to read through them before the evening because she was going to introduce him to humans. She had assured him that she would pick up some items of clothing for him as well. He had given her a brief nod indicating that he understood and took the papers from her. After reassuring herself that he would actually be able to read those sheets, Orihime had dashed out. True to her promise she had brought some clothing along with her. Therefore the hollow was currently dressed in khakis, Navy Blue polo neck sweater and a sports jacket. She had briefly explained the public transport system to him, anticipating some questions but none had come. In fact Ulquiorra hadn't spoken to her at all. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought he was giving her the silent treatment.<p>

Orihime looked at him through her eyelashes, he sat ramrod straight, looking directly in front of him and presenting her with his sharp profile. His midnight black hair, jade green eyes and sharp features made him an exceedingly attractive man. But his pale skin and the cyan lines on his face were testaments to his otherworldliness. Thankfully the biggest proof of his non-human identity was currently well hidden under the turtle neck sweater. She wondered if they could pull it off.

She tried to visualise the two of them from a third person's perspective. Orihime was dressed in a pale peach cowl neck sleeveless top and black skirt with scalloped ridges. Sitting next to a casually dressed Ulquiorra, they may pass of as a young couple. She had taught Ulquiorra to say that his tear tracks were tattoos, should anyone ask. For the umpteenth time she wondered if she should have used makeup to cover them.

"Woman," Ulquiorra cut through her thoughts, speaking for the first time in the day, "You are staring."

"Yes I was." Orihime said unapologetically, "I am wondering if we could do this."

Ignoring her question, he posed one of his own, "How do you know Kisuke Urahara?"

"Kiss who?" Orihime was confused.

"Urahara. Kisuke Urahara. How do you know him?"

"I have no idea who you are talking about." Orihime was looking at him sceptically.

Ulquiorra turned to look at her. He appeared to be searching her face for something. After a while he closed his eyes and turned to look away from her. If his mood had been brooding before, he had turned even more ruminating now. Orihime tried to talk to him several times but her words went unacknowledged. Annoyed, she gave up. The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

As the two were about to enter the restaurant, Ulquiorra stiffened. He lifted his head slightly, sniffed the air and let out a low throaty growl. Startled Orihime turned to look at him in askance. Frowning he grabbed her elbow and dragged her into the shadows.

"What the…"

"I should warn you, there are a couple of Shinigamis in there." He was eyeing the entrance of the restaurant.

Orihime's eyes widened, "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. "

"But…But then they'll know you. They'll know you are not…" She was on the verge of panicking.

"Human? Yes they will. In fact I have reasons to believe that they already knew I was coming," His forest green eyes were looking pensive.

Orihime bit her lower lip nervously and stared at the entrance, "I just hope this doesn't create an unwanted scene."

Ulquiorra looked at her and said, "Nothing will happen. I won't let anything happen. Relax."

She looked up into his eyes and her nervousness melted away completely. Slowly she allowed her lips to split into a wide smile. In response he bobbed his head slightly and said,

"Shall we?"

* * *

><p>There were more people at the table than Orihime expected. Of course there were the usual friends like Uryuu, Sado, Tatsuki and Ryo and the unusual Asane Keigo and Chizuru Honsho and then there were two other people Orihime didn't know. One of them was a short, black-haired beautiful woman. The other one, whose back was turned towards Orihime at that point, was a tall, auburn haired man. On seeing Orihime, Keigo started waving enthusiastically and Chizuru joined him. Orihime waved back half-heartedly. On seeing his table-mates wave, the auburn-haired man turned around to see who they were waving at and Orihime's heart dropped. There, sitting in front of her, dressed casually in a white T-shirt with a red 15 inscribed on it, was the Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki.<p>

"That man!" She whispered to Ulquiorra as they made their way to the table, "He's…"

"Shh! I know," He whispered back.

"Hi everyone, sorry I am late, new job and all," Orihime said brightly upon reaching the table and taking a seat next to Uryuu. Ulquiorra sat down next to her.

"No problem girl, we understand," Tatsuki replied with a smile.

"I believe some introductions are in order," Uryuu's voice was slightly hostile as he eyed Ulquiorra, "We've held them off till you could join us."

For a change, Sado started the introductions, "This here is Ichigo Kurosaki, my childhood friend."

"Huh?" Tatsuki was perplexed, "Childhood friend? We have known each other almost all our lives, how come we never heard of him before?"

Sado was staring at her blankly as if she had just spoken in Greek, "I have known him for a really long time, you know," He persisted.

"But…," Tatsuki continued.

"Actually," Ichigo politely intervened, "I have not been in Karakura for ages. Our parents; that is Chad's and mine, they have been friends for a long time. That's how we know each other."

"Chad?" Uryuu asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ichigo didn't skip a beat, "As a child I couldn't pronounce Sado. I used to say Chad and that stuck."

"N-nice meeting you." Orihime muttered shakily.

Ichigo turned and smiled at her, showing no signs of recognition, "Pleasure is all mine."

It was Ryo's turn next, "This is my cousin, Rukia Kuchiki. She's visiting me for some time."

Orihime felt Ulquiorra give a soft nudge on her knee with his. She understood that this was the second Shinigami he was talking about.

"Greetings fellow humans," Rukia said theatrically, "I feel elated to be in your august company."

Barring Ryo, every other human's jaws dropped. Unaffected by the stares, she continued, "I hope I will find friends among you gentle souls, for my heart much desires compassion."

Uryuu, who was sitting between Orihime and Keigo leaned towards Keigo and whispered, "I believe you've met your match in weirdness."

"Err…it's a pleasure making your acquaintance," Chizuru said, looking at Rukia like she expected her to sprout a second head any moment. "How exactly are the two of you related?"

"She's a distant relative." Was all Ryo offered.

Everyone looked at Rukia for further explanation but she was blissfully unaware of the stares she was receiving as she studied the menu.

Orihime hastened to fill in the awkward silence, "This is Ulquiorra, my roommate."

All heads swivelled towards the two of them.

"Roommate?" Ryo asked perplexed.

"Himeeeeeee, how could you do this to me?" came Chizuru's anguished cry.

"Lucky guy," from Keigo.

"Had I known you planned on taking a roommate, I would have ventured my name." Tatsuki said sullenly.

Sado was quiet, as usual. Uryuu stiffened. Ichigo and Rukia were studying Ulquiorra intently from across the table, each having a different expression on their faces.

Orihime hurried to explain, "It's not like you guys think. He is just a friend that's all."

None of them looked convinced.

"So Ulquiorra, what do you do?" Uryuu asked, unable to keep the hostility out of his voice.

"I am looking for a job." Ulquiorra said the words that Orihime had taught him. She thanked her lucky stars that he had been listening.

"New to Karakura, are you?" Ichigo asked, placing his elbows on the table and leaning forward. "I am looking for a job as well. Want to team up?"

The hairs on the back of Orihime's neck rose as she felt the chill emanate from the Shinigami and the Hollow. Without being told she knew that each was trying to intimidate the other with reiatsu. A challenge had been issued, now the ball was in Ulquiorra's court.

"Teaming up with strangers isn't a great idea," Ulquiorra refused to take the bait.

Ichigo's lips curled into a derisive smirk. Rukia cast a warning glance at Ichigo and then in her hammy voice she said,

"Come on ladies and gentlemen, let us consume food and beverages and make merry for the night is young."

Orihime cringed, the only thing worse than Rukia's gross overacting was the non-verbal communication that was going on between Ulquiorra and Ichigo. In an effort to dispel the tension, she picked up the menu and chimed,

"Let's order. I am hungry."

It was then that Ulquiorra turned to look at her. Leaning in slowly he whispered, "I don't eat human food."

Orihime's eyes widened. Before she could think of what to do, the waiter had arrived asking for orders. Improvising wildly she said,

"Ulquiorra won't be having anything. He seems to have caught a bug. He can't keep anything down."

Ichigo smirked, Rukia raised her eyebrows but the rest of them nodded and continued to place their orders. When everyone's attention was reasonably diverted, Ulquiorra leaned in once again,

"Bug? Why would I want to catch an insect? And what can't I keep down?"

Orihime was torn between amusement and apprehension. She opened her mouth to say something when Chizuru screamed her name. Sighing she turned her attention to the lesbian red-head who had been trying to get Orihime to sleep with her for almost six years to date. The rest of the dinner went by uneventfully. Ichigo had taken to the human world like a duck takes to water, Rukia continued with her dramatics and thereby sticking out like a sore thumb and Ulquiorra sat silently brooding. Other than Orihime, everyone else was completely oblivious to the non-verbal and deadly conversation that was going on between the two Shinigamis and the Hollow.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Ichigo came up and whispered, "A word with the two of you."

With a nod, Ulquiorra led them to an alley. Once there, Rukia spoke first, her voice crisp and business like,

"Orihime Inoue, I am not sure you understand the danger you are in."

"Danger?" She asked, confused.

"This man here, he's not human," Ichigo snapped, "Remember I warned you about hollows?"

"Oh yes! I remember. You said they consume human souls," Orihime replied.

"Precisely. We are here to protect you. Come with us. You shouldn't stay close to such creatures," Ichigo was glad she was catching on.

"Really?" She said sweetly, "Tell me, where were you both when I was almost killed by my brother's soul? I didn't see you rushing to my aid then."

Rukia frowned, "You were attacked?"

"From your reaction, I take it you weren't even aware of it. That speaks volumes about your skills to 'protect' me. And this hollow that you are talking about, he has a name. He was the one who protected me. I owe my life to him. I will not go anywhere," Orihime didn't know why her temper had flared, all she knew was that she couldn't stand these two badmouthing Ulquiorra.

"Orihime…," Rukia said kindly.

"I think she has made her choice abundantly clear, Shinigami. Leave her and go back to where you came from," Ulquiorra said coldly "Tell Urahara Kisuke, she is in no danger from me. "

Before either could respond, Ulquiorra grabbed Orihime's hand and walked away, leaving the two angels dumbfounded.

* * *

><p><strong>AN **Your reviews are the only reward I get for my efforts. So please drop in a line.


	6. Chapter 5

Hello there people. I know I told some of you that I would be updating a chapter from Trust to Hope next but I had a problem. I am writing a particularly difficult chapter in the fic and I wasn't satisfied with the way it turned out. So I scrapped the chapter half way through and decided to finish this one instead. Thanks to you all for reviews, alerts and favorites. My Beta **Cerice Belle** is so busy that poor girl hardly finds time to breathe. Hence my chapters are currently not beta'd because I don't wanna add on to her burden. If you happen to spot any writing errors, please point it out.

As usual, please drop in a line as to what you think. Reviews make me smyle along ;)

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<br>**

On the way back home Orihime was bursting with questions, "Oh my God! What was all that? Why are the Shinigami here? What do they mean that they want to protect me? Does this mean I am being watched? Why am I being watched? How is it that everyone could see them? I mean aren't they spiritual beings? How were they visible to everyone? What about Sado and Ryo? Why are they pretending? Are you in danger? Do those Shinigami mean to kill you? What did you mean when you said I am not in any danger from you? My life has turned on its head ever since you showed up. Why is this happening to me? Who is this Kisuki whatever that you keep talking about? Why is he important? Why aren't you answering?"

"I am waiting for the flurry of your questions to be over." Ulquiorra replied not even looking at her.

Since they had a lot to talk about, Orihime had decided to walk home, a decision she was partly regretting now. She hadn't factored in her 4 inch heels and they had begun to dig into her skin. She was now wincing slightly with every step.

"So are you going to answer them?" Orihime asked looking at Ulquiorra. She was marginally taller than him in those heels, something that pleased her immensely for some reason.

Shoving his hands in his pockets he said, "Are you hurt in some way?"

"No," The lie popped out before she even realized, "why?"

"Do you know that when a human lies, they have certain physiological symptoms?" He asked casually.

"What?"

"Your heart beat woman, it sped up when you said that you aren't hurt," Ulquiorra's face was still impassive, he spoke as if he was telling her the time instead of saying that he knew she had lied. "Why would you lie to me?"

"And you knew about my heart beats because…?" She asked expectantly.

"I can hear it."

"Hmmm. So lying to you is ruled out. Good to know. Now will you answer my questions?" She was getting impatient with his impassive hedging.

"I will, if you tell me where exactly you hurt?" He persisted.

"Aaah, you are impossible! My feet! They hurt. I chose to wear these stupid heels and now my feet hurt. Happy?"

Ignoring her Ulquiorra started to speak, "The Shinigami have always known where I live, they haven't bothered me in all this while, so I don't think any of this is about me, at least not directly. I think the Shinigami are here for the exact same reason that they told you. They want to protect you, from me. You are an anomaly after all, for a being with such little reiatsu to be able to see a Vasto Lorde, it had to arouse Soul Society's curiosity. That means you are definitely being watched. Soul Society sometimes places Shinigami amidst humans. To do that, they modify the memories of certain unsuspecting humans, in this case your friends. As long as a Shinigami lives in the human realm, he will use a Gigai – an artificial body. It's like a container for their spirits. Kisuke Urahara is a Shinigami. I am not entirely sure what his role is in all of this, but I know one thing for sure, he is a big player. Quite possibly, Rukia Kuchiki and Ichigo Kurosaki are just pawns with him being the mastermind. "

Orihime frowned and bit her lower lip as she considered what Ulquiorra had said. She realized that he had not answered one of her questions and opened her mouth to repeat it but he beat her to it.

"Humans are so strange."

"Huh? What now?" Orihime was flummoxed.

Ulquiorra turned to look at her with a frown, "Why would you deliberately do something that would hurt you?"

"What? What does that have to do with the Shinigami?" She had no idea what he was talking about.

"I am not talking about the Shinigami. I am talking about your strange behaviour."

"What did I do now?" The conversation had stopped making any sense to her.

"There are many things about you that I don't understand," He hadn't removed his hands from his pockets the entire time.

"Like?"

"Why would you choose to wear something that hurts you? It doesn't make sense."

Orihime lost it, "We are talking about my shoes? Here I am worried sick that I might be watched by some spiritual entities and trying to cope up with the lemons life has thrown at me and you are talking about my _shoes_? Damn, I am so mad right now I can't even cuss properly."

Angry and irritated she started to walk ahead of him in a huff, leaving a stupefied Ulquiorra standing in the middle of the road. She had walked some thirty paces ahead of him when suddenly, with a whoosh of air, he was next to her causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Wh- How did you get here so fast?" She asked wide eyed.

"Sonido. Why did you say you were mad?" Ulquiorra was frowning.

"What's Sonido? And I am mad because you have your priorities all screwed up. How can you not be worried? I understand you not being worried about one Shinigami, but if what you say is true, there are three Shinigamis involved here. Shouldn't it be worrying you just a little bit?"

"Sonido is a version of flash-step used by Hollows. It enables us to move quickly. And woman, I have been in the human realm for almost five centuries and I have spent the entire time being watched and followed by Shinigamis. They don't interest me. You do."

Despite herself, Orihime smiled, "You know, if you had been a human, I'd have thought you were actually hitting on me."

"But I did not hit you," Ulquiorra had the look that Orihime had mentally termed as his 'does not compute!' look, "In fact I did not even touch you."

Chuckling she said "Hit ON me, not hit me. It's a figure of speech that means that you were flirting with me."

"Excuse me?" Although given Ulquiorra's monotone it was hard to tell but Orihime thought he sounded incredulous.

"Relax, I know you weren't. That's why I said 'if you had been a human.' I know that the human female form holds no allure for you so don't worry, I won't read too much into nothing. Come on let's go home, I am tired. I am hailing a cab."

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><p>The woman had gone to sleep almost as soon as they returned home. Ulquiorra on the other hand was restless. As a hollow he didn't need to sleep. If he felt tired, he would sometimes slip into a trance like catatonic state for a while in which all his organs stopped functioning and he rejuvenated, but he wasn't tired now. What he was feeling he couldn't name. It had started when the woman had gotten angry at the Shinigami on his behalf. Unfamiliar and pleasant warmth had filled inside him and before he had time to think, he had declared to the Shinigami that the woman was in no danger from him. He was only marginally surprised to find that he meant it. Then as they had been walking back home, he had noticed her wince. He didn't like to think she was hurt, it was an uncomfortable feeling. Irritated Ulquiorra walked over to a window and flew out. He flew around aimlessly as he tried to clear his head off the woman. She was driving him to the point of distraction. There was a cunning, clever and dangerous Shinigami watching him like a hawk and he couldn't concentrate on him. Instead he was thinking about an illogical human who deliberately wore things that would hurt her and defend him to Shinigamis. This woman was an anomaly – of that he was sure.<p>

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><p>'<em>Sola! Highel Sola, highel!' The three years old girl giggled as her older brother threw her up in the air and caught her again. <em>

"_Careful Son, don't drop her now." Hideki Inoue's voice called out. _

_Sora laughed as he spun her around in a circle before throwing her up in the air again. The auburn-haired girl squealed in delight. The brother and sister continued to play for a while when Shizune, their mother called out,_

"_That's enough now Sora, Orihime. Come over darlings, let's have lunch. We have salted pork."_

"_Salted polk!" Orihime's honey coloured eyes lit up. "Sola, let's go have salted polk."_

_Sora laughed and set his baby sister down. The girl clapped her hands and ran across the back yard towards her parents when suddenly she stopped, her eyes growing wide as saucers. _

"_Mamma, what is that?" She said pointing at something. _

"_What's what honey?" Shizune walked over to her and kneeled next to her._

"_That." The girl continued to point._

"_What honey? There is nothing there." The woman was about to get up when the girl spoke up again. _

"_Thele is!" She insisted, "That thing, it scales me. Please make it go."_

"_There is nothing there, Orihime," Sora said joining them. _

_Orihime pouted, looked at Sora and turned her head back to the thing she was seeing. There, some distance away from her, was a massive snake like creature which was purple in colour and had a mask that looked like the skull of a rhino. If that wasn't scary enough, there was a large gaping hole right under the skull. The creature was making its way towards her floating in the mid-air. Suddenly a man dressed in all black and carrying a sword in his hand stepped in front of the creature, also standing in mid-air. The creature tried to lunge at the man who swung his sword in a wide arc and chopped the head clean off the creature's body. The little girl screamed._

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><p>Orihime woke up with a scream. What was it that she had seen? Was it her overactive imagination at work or was it a long forgotten memory? As far as she could remember, her parents had always been passively hostile to her, barely managing politeness. So why would her imagination show them as loving parents? But then Ulquiorra was the only hollow she'd ever seen. Her brother wasn't a hollow yet, and the thing that she'd seen clearly had a hole in its body, which meant it was a hollow.<p>

And then there was the Shinigami. She had only seen Ichigo Kurosaki wearing that black outfit and his outfit had been different from the one this man wore. There was also the sword. The sword that Ichigo Kurosaki had been carrying was almost as tall as he was and was broad; kind of like a gigantic meat cleaver. But the sword that this man in her dream was carrying was sleek, almost like a Katana. The dream, if it were indeed a dream, had none of the dream-like qualities. Usually her dreams were completely nonsensical but this dream was very fluid and made more sense than most. The detail that bothered Orihime the most was Salted Pork. It had been a favourite of hers as a child but as she grew up, her taste buds developed uniquely and now she found Salted Pork a little too bland for her taste. But her dream had captured this minor detail a little too accurately for her comfort. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them. She couldn't decide if it was a dream or a memory that had chosen to resurface and there was only one way to find out.

"Ulquiorra," She called out, "are you there?"

Silence.

"Ulquiorra?" She called out again.

Same result. Huffing she threw the sheet off herself and stepped off the bed and walked out to the living room. The hollow was nowhere to be seen. Cold fingers of fear crept up her spine. Had Ulquiorra left? Had the Shinigami attacked him? Was he in danger? If Sora decided to attack her now, who would protect her? Worried Orihime looked around the tiny apartment once again, but to no avail, there was no one in the house except her. Frowning she wondered what to do. Without realizing what she was doing, she started to finger one of her hibiscus hairpins. She absently traced the pattern as she tried to tell herself to be rational. Just because Ulquiorra was sharing the space with her didn't mean that he was with her 24/7. Why only last night he had flown out of the window, so it was quite possible that he had taken off again. But she needed him at that point, she wanted answers to some questions and she wanted them now.

Consciously she started to try and pay attention to Ulquiorra's reiatsu. After all she had sensed his and Ichigo Kurosaki's battle in the restaurant, so she theorized; she could probably try and trace his reiatsu. Bolstered by her theory, she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the feel of Ulquiorra. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find but she knew what she found wasn't what she expected. Instead of Ulquiorra's reiatsu, she had started seeing his image. In her mind's eye all she saw was him sending her brother's soul away, him standing in his winged form asking her about Harry Potter, him sitting in the restaurant staring daggers at Ichigo Kurosaki, his expression when she'd told him her shoes hurt, him holding her hand and dragging her away from the Shinigami. Orihime opened her eyes and looked at the hand he had grabbed her by and frowned slightly. Why was her brain throwing those images when she was trying to do something totally different? Or more importantly, when had she developed a soft spot for her otherworldly roommate? She wouldn't go so far as to term it as attraction or infatuation, but she definitely thought of him as a friend. But what about him? Would he think of her as a friend as well? Orihime thought he was a loner and therefore it was probably too much to expect him to have any kind of feelings for her. Deciding that the questions would have to wait till Ulquiorra decided to come back from wherever it was that he had gone to, Orihime went back to bed. Ulquiorra had returned shortly afterwards, but she had fallen asleep and by the morning, she had forgotten all about the dream.

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><p>Per Ulquiorra's advice, Orihime had spent the next three weeks consciously trying to avoid thinking about Sora. According to him, by doing so, she would ease the pain the spirit was enduring. So, whenever she'd caught herself thinking about Sora, she had forcefully turned her mind in another direction. It had been difficult at first but gradually it became a habit. Soon she was able to push Sora away from her mind almost instinctively.<p>

She had taken Ulquiorra out several times to keep up her end of the deal. But as Orihime had learned, he wasn't easy to handle. He had particular difficulty in understanding figures of speech and proverbs because he was very literal. So when Uryuu had said something about 'searching a needle in the haystack', Ulquiorra had promptly pointed out the futility of the action earning strange glances from everyone.

Orihime particularly remembered this one time when she had made the mistake of taking him to a haunted house. She had decided not to explain anything about it to him, a mistake she rued deeply. He had punched a couple of 'ghosts' in their faces for coming too close to him – he was very particular about his personal space and then, to top it all off, when a water sprinkler had sprayed water on them, Ulquiorra had shot a bala at it. It was his instinct born from centuries of fighting and Orihime didn't blame him for that but the problem was that he had blown a huge hole in the roof of the haunted house and the management wasn't too happy about it. Fortunately no one other than Orihime knew exactly what had happened but unfortunately the angry manager had figured out that they were to be blamed somehow. So a hefty fine and a lifetime ban from that establishment later Orihime learned her lesson; Ullquiorra Schiffer (she'd learned his last name a few days ago) didn't like surprises.

They'd run into Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki several times as they tried to be conspicuously inconspicuous. While Kurosaki stood out because of his bizarre hair colour, Kuchiki stood out for her hamming. Orihime had once found Kuchiki inside a shop of a mall, curtseying to a clerk and thanking the 'gracious sir for being kind enough to help a damsel in distress' when the clerk had pointed out the aisle she was looking for. Orihime had quickly darted out of the shop before Kuchiki could catch her eye because she thought that being associated with one oddball was enough. The oddball that she was associated with had declared that he 'did not take opinion of trash' when another clerk had tried to point out shirts that Ulquiorra might have liked.

The two Shinigami had also taken to dropping into her house unannounced bringing Sado and Ryo with them, using the humans to concoct ridiculous excuses for the visit. Sado had once come over with Ichigo Kurosaki to play video games, when Sado knew that Orihime could barely tell the front of the controller from the back. Another time Ryo had showed up with Rukia at 9.00pm stating that she'd run out of sugar and she wanted coffee. It would have been a great excuse if not for the fact that Ryo lived ten miles away from Orihime and had to cross at least two 24 hours super markets, one if which was across the street from her house, and 3 gas stations that sold coffee. However in all these days, she had neither seen nor heard of Urahara Kisuke. All in all life with Ulquiorra Schiffer never had a dull moment.

This day they were sitting at an ice-cream parlour. Ulquiorra had found out that while he didn't need to eat human food, there were no side effects to him if he did take it once in a while. He had developed a partiality to sweeter things so Orihime had got him a vanilla ice cream considering his nascent taste buds. She herself had asked for a regular ice-cream sundae on which she was about to add some wasabi and her personal favourite, red bean paste, to liven up the flavour. As she was getting the tubes out of her purse, Ulquiorra asked,

"Woman, what is that?"

"This?" She asked pointing at her sundae. When he nodded she continued, "This is an ice-cream sundae."

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed. He reached over and picked up the cherry and asked silkily, "And this would be?"

Orihime knew that voice and expression denoted displeasure but she had no idea what could have upset him.

"That's a cherry," she said uncertainly.

"You compared me with _this_?" Although his voice was flat and monotonous, she knew he was livid.

"What are you talking about? When did I compare you with a cherry?"

"When I explained what a Vasto Lorde is, you told me 'So essentially you are the cherry on top of the ice-cream sundae.' This," he said holding up the cherry, "is a cherry on top of an ice-cream sundae."

It was all she could do to not facepalm, "Ulquiorra," she said gently, "figure of speech honey, figure of speech."

"Humans are strange," He said decisively.

"Point noted," She replied with a small smile.

The two of them finished their ice-creams in silence. After they threw their cups away, they gathered their jackets and walked out of the store. Orihime noticed a sixteen-seventeen year old girl eyeing Ulquiorra with undisguised interest. This was another thing that she was slowly getting accustomed to. Ulquiorra was a 'chick-magnet'; a term coined by Keigo. He drew glances from girls of all ages. The thing that exacerbated it was that he was completely unaware of it. The two of them walked in companionable silence through the familiar streets of Karakura. Before Ulquiorra, Orihime had never really appreciated the beauty of night but now, since nights were the only time she could spend with him because of her job, she had come to realize how stunning the city looked in the nights. Orihime breathed in the night air deeply and realized that it had become cooler than it was when they had left the ice-cream parlour. Hugging her jacket closer she said,

"Is it me or has it just become colder?"

When she didn't receive a response, she turned around to find Ulquiorra standing a few paces behind, his head tilted slightly upwards, sniffing the air with a deep frown on his face.

"Ulquiorra? What happened?" She was worried.

"Woman, stay by me," He ordered her curtly.

There was something about the way he said it that it didn't occur to Orihime to refuse. She hurried next to him and was a little surprised when he snaked an arm around her waist, his manner watchful. She heard a strange clicking noise, similar to Ulquiorra's footsteps in his winged form, yet different somehow. Her eyes grew large as saucers as her mind presented a frightening possibility. But before she could voice it a new masculine voice sounded from the shadows,

"Yo!"

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><p><strong>AN:** Color, flavor, parlor etc have all been spelled the British way because my word dictionary is set to UK mode.

**Edit: (04/12/12)** Thanks to Eva-Saiyajin for pointing out a grammatical error.


	7. Chapter 6

****Woohoo! Am I on a creative high or what? Almost all of you correctly guessed who it was who said 'YO' in the last chapter, so virtual cookies for you all.

Anyone who's following my beta **Cerice Belle**'s **Music to my Heart **(if you are not following it, you are missing out some fun), may see a subtle similarity between a scene in this chapter and a scene from her last updated chapter. Completely unintentional. I had this scene in mind from the time I started this story. It just happened that the two scenes got timed together.

Also I am close to 50 reviews for this story. Drop in a review and you'll get a shout-out when I reach 50 reviews.

Beta'd by **Cerice Belle**.

PS: If any of you haven't already started reading the joint collaboration of **Lilarin** (**Grimmjow: Four to love**) and **OvercativeImagination39** (**Ulquiorra: Four to love**), do so NOW! It is a very interesting concept which should be followed.

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

"Never thought I'd see you snuggling up to a fucking human. Oh how the mighty have fallen!"

Slowly the owner of the sneering voice came into the light and Orihime gasped. A tall muscular hollow walked into her view. Lithely built, this hollow also resembled a human to an extent. His bright blue hair was long and flowing. His attire was white and formfitting with blades protruding out of his elbows and knees. He, too, had clawed hands and feet and a long whip-like tail. His hollow hole was in his abdomen. A headgear that looked like it was made of bone adorned his brow ending above his feline ears. He had sharp jagged teeth that looked like they could tear flesh easily. However what caught Orihime's attention were his eyes. They had strange markings around them and although she couldn't quite make out their colour, she distinctly felt them upon her.

"What are you doing here, trash?" Ulquiorra asked, his grip on her waist tightening slightly.

"Ulquiorra," Orihime spoke up before the newcomer could reply, "Is he another Vasto Lorde?"

Ulquiorra made a derisive sound, "Vasto Lorde? This piece of trash? No."

The newcomer however ignored Ulquiorra's jibe and looked at Orihime with widening eyes, "She can see me? How, she barely has any reiatsu?"

Honestly, she was beginning to get a little irritated at the reaction 'Le gasp! She can see me? How? She has so little reiatsu.' _Like really?_ _All these supernatural powers and you can't even come up with a more original reaction? How boring. _To her intense surprise the new hollow started laughing while Ulquiorra looked at her, clearly amused.

"Of all the things I have been accused of," the blue-haired hollow said guffawing, "unoriginality wasn't one of them!"

"Shit!" she said a faint flush covering her cheeks, "Did I just say that aloud?"

One hollow doubled over laughing while the other tried very hard to fight off a smirk.

"Seriously though, how can you see me?" the hollow asked, once he was done laughing.

Orihime opened her mouth to answer but Ulquiorra cut her short, "You haven't answered my question yet."

"What was it again?" The hollow pretended to consider for a bit and said, "Ah yes, what am I doing here, right? Well you see, I got bored in Hueco Mundo so I thought I should pay an old friend a visit."

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed fractionally. He was about to reply when with a whoosh two forms materialized from the darkness. The Shinigamis Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki stood on both sides of the hollow, their swords unsheathed.

"What are you doing in the World of the Living, Hollow?" Ichigo spat.

"The name's Grimmjow Jagerjaquez. Nice to meet you too," He replied examining his nails, looking supremely unconcerned.

Ichigo ground his teeth so hard, it was audible, "Don't fuck with me, Hollow. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, just passing through," His tone continued to remain nonchalant.

"Then pass on through," Rukia said in a tight voice, "We don't want to see you here."

"If all you want to do is talk, then sheath your Zanpakutos Shinigami," Grimmjow said seriously, "You look fucking ridiculous holding them in your hands and talking. If you have a weapon in your hand, you should fight, not chat."

"You want a fight, I will give you one," Ichigo retorted angrily "It's not like an Adjucas like you scares me."

Grimmjow let out a feral growl, "Fight me Shinigami and I will show you exactly what this Adjucas is capable of. Unfortunately you won't be around to hear my gleeful laughter as I chew on your heart."

"We'll see who laughs at the end of it Hollow," Ichigo hefted his sword.

Surprisingly Ulquiorra spoke before Grimmjow could retort, "I think you are forgetting your place Shinigami. "

"You stay out of this," Ichigo snapped, "As it is we have been very lenient with you and …"

Instantly Ulquiorra's reiatsu flared. Unable to withstand the sudden and drastic rise in his reiatsu, Orihime began to sway and her legs started to give way. But Ulquiorra pulled her closer, supporting her with his body and reined in his reiatsu so that Orihime could continue standing, all the while keeping his eyes fixed on Ichigo.

"Grimmjow Jagerjaquez is an Espada Shinigami, you go against one, you go against all of them, and that includes four Vasto Lordes. Think you can handle them?" Ulquiorra asked his voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't need your backing up, Batman. I can take this two-bit Shinigami any day," Grimmjow took a battle stance to show he was serious.

"Two-bit Shinigami is it? Let me show you what this 'two-bit Shinigami' can do," Ichigo stated hotly. He hoisted his gigantic sword and swung it in a wide arc but before it could land on its target, another sword blocked its path.

"Don't be stupid Ichigo," Rukia said curtly, holding her sword aloft "We are not allowed to use our Zanpakutos in the world of the living unless absolutely necessary."

"Rukia, don't interrupt!" Ichigo looked livid.

"Listen to your more sensible partner, Kurosaki," Ulquiorra said, "Are you looking to start an Espada- Shinigami war?"

"Hiding behind a tiny female eh, Shinigami? You don't look the type," Grimmjow egged on.

Ichigo lunged forward but Rukia shouted, "Ichigo, stop!"

"But he ..." Ichigo began angrily.

"Is merely taunting you. You can simply ignore him," Rukia's demeanour made it clear that she was displeased.

Ichigo sighed and pulled back his sword and Rukia began to sheath hers when Orihime spoke up, "Just a minute, Rukia."

Surprised the Shinigami turned to face her.

"Y - your sword," Orihime's face was ashen.

"It is called a Zanpakuto," Grimmjow supplied.

"What about it?" Rukia asked perplexed.

"It…It's so different from Kurosaki's." Orihime was beginning to recollect flashes of a very disturbing dream.

"Every Shinigami's Zanpakuto is different," Rukia explained, "In fact Ichigo is the only one who has a Zanpakuto as big as himself."

Orihime felt as though she was doused in ice-cold water. Without a word she extricated herself from Ulquiorra's grasp, turned and walked away from the scene, leaving the Shinigamis and the Hollows to sort out their issues. She wasn't really surprised when with a swish, Ulquiorra was at her side. What surprised her however was what he said,

"I don't think you should walk home in your current state. You look like a strong gust of wind might knock you off of your feet. Wait here, let me call a cab."

Throughout the cab ride, she sat in absolute silence. Her mind was in turmoil and she didn't know what to think. She rested her head on the backrest and closed her eyes. The dream came back to her in vivid detail. Having seen Rukia's sleek sword, she was now almost certain that what she had seen wasn't a random dream but an actual memory. Lost in her thoughts, she barely noticed where they were headed to till Ulquiorra's voice tore through her musings,

"Orihime, we are here."

She opened her eyes, nodded, paid the cab and walked into her apartment. She had almost reached into her bedroom when suddenly something occurred to her. She spun on her heels and faced Ulquiorra,

"You called me by my name."

"Yes, what of it?"

"You never call me by my name," she said.

"So?"

She had liked it when he had used her name and had wanted to know what had inspired the change but he was so indifferent about the whole thing it was irritating her. Just as she was thinking to retire for the night, Ulquiorra spoke up,

"Why did Kuchiki's Zanpakuto bother you so much?"

Inhaling deeply she said, "I am not entirely sure but I think I have been seeing Shinigamis and Hollows for a while now."

He frowned, "How long is 'for a while'?"

"I think since I was three years or so old," lost in thought, she bit her lower lip, "Tell me, what does a new hollow look like?"

"Depends. There are any number of shapes it can take. Why?"

"So a new hollow can look like a gigantic purple snake with a rhino's skull?"

He looked at her for a few seconds before asking, "What is a rhino?"

Rolling her eyes, Orihime went to the bedroom to fetch her laptop. She was thankful that the Internet had been installed. She had gained new appreciation for the World Wide Web because of Ulquiorra. She sat on the couch and pulled up a picture of a Rhinoceros and showed it to him. He sat next to her and looked at the picture for a while with rapt attention and then said,

"Yes, it is possible."

Orihime's worst fears were confirmed. Closing the laptop she put it on the table and stood up.

"We'll talk about this later, alright? I need to sleep right now. Goodnight."

She had started to leave when Ulquiorra spoke once again,

"Woman, just a minute."

She spun around, "What now?"

He stood up from the couch and walked over to her. To her intense surprise he stopped barely inches away from her. Something told Orihime that she should step back but those viridian eyes held her captive, incapable of forming a single coherent thought. He grasped her hand and leaned closer, his head tilted slightly to the side.

_He is going to kiss me._

The thought came from nowhere and much to Orihime's surprise; she found that she didn't mind. Closing her eyes she tilted her head up, mouth slightly open. She waited but the kiss never came. Instead she felt his hot breath on her neck where her pulse throbbed. He inhaled deeply and pulled back.

"Curious."

His voice jolted her to her senses and she looked at him, her face turning a bright shade of red.

"Wh-what?" She stammered.

"Your reiatsu. It is not the same as it was when I first saw you. It has increased."

"Y – y - you were checking my reiatsu?" she asked weakly.

"Yes. What did you think I was doing?"

Calming her wayward and disturbing thoughts she said, "Can we please talk about this tomorrow, I really need to sleep?"

He nodded, "Goodnight woman."

Orihime smiled slightly, she had managed to teach him at least a few human mannerisms.

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><p>Grimmjow and the two Shinigamis stared after the odd couple that had departed from the scene somewhat abruptly.<p>

"What is so disconcerting about my Zanpakuto?" Rukia asked holding her sword at eye-level.

"No idea. In fact, I find it a sight way better than the gigantic fucking thing this brute here carries," Grimmjow said, hooking a thumb at Ichigo.

"And who asked your opinion, Adjucas?" Ichigo shot back.

"Oh cut it you two," Rukia said firmly, "You," she said pointing a finger at Grimmjow, "get moving! And you, "she turned to Ichigo, "come with me!"

The two of them had started to head back when Grimmjow whistled, "Just a minute Shinigami, any idea why that human is able to see us all?"

"No. None," Rukia replied, "Now go. I don't want to see you in Karakura."

Grimmjow grinned and said, "And I don't wanna go anywhere else. I believe I have struck gold."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked threateningly.

"Do not bother that fucking tiny little thing you have for brains, Shinigami. I won't be bugging the lot of you, I swear," Grimmjow's voice was laced with mockery.

"I don't trust a word you say, Hollow," Rukia said.

Grimmjow's eyes widened and he placed a hand on his chest, "You don't? My heart breaks at the thought," He paused and then said, "Oh wait! I don't have a heart. Sorry, my bad."

Ichigo's irritation boiled over and he opened his mouth to say something but Grimmjow overrode him, "I did not come here to bandy words with the likes of you. If it is of any consolation, I am not here to feed on souls. I came here looking for entertainment and I found it. Now piss off."

Saying so, Grimmjow disappeared from the scene using Sonido.

"This is insane," Ichigo said disgruntled, "As it is Urahara won't allow us to do anything to Ulquiorra and now we have a second Espada here and we are still not allowed to jack shit? Are we just supposed to sit and twiddle our thumbs?"

The senior Shinigami sighed and refrained from giving Ichigo a piece of her mind.

* * *

><p>Orihime lay on her bed, thoroughly annoyed with herself. What the hell was wrong with her? Was she so desperate that she was willing to be kissed by a Hollow? Or was she so lonely that words of kindness, coming out of anyone's mouth, was enough to make her go weak in the knees? Ulquiorra simply <em>looked<em> like a human, there was nothing human about him and she'd do well to remember that. If she allowed herself to go further on the path that she was on currently, all she'd end up with is a heart break.

Ulquiorra was hollow, he had no feelings. He would not reciprocate whatever it was that Orihime had been feeling, or rather, he could not. What was it that she was feeling anyway? Was it infatuation? Or attraction? Or maybe she was reading too much into nothing and it was just a normal reaction from a female to an attractive male. She hoped that's all there was to it. Either way, one thing was certain, if Orihime did not take precautionary measures right away, what happened tonight might get repeated and that was something she could not afford. Making up her mind, she allowed sleep to take over. Just as her eyes were drifting shut, she recalled the feeling of being supported by Ulquiorra's wiry body and her skin broke into goose bumps. Before she could contemplate on it, sleep took over.

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra did not step inside the bedroom. Instead he stepped out of the house and took flight. These nightly forays had become a sort of routine for him. For some reason he could not stay in the house when the woman slept. It was strangely disconcerting, the urge that came over him to protect her when she was at her most vulnerable. What had started as a flight to clear his mind had now become an exercise to get back his self-control.<p>

As he flew around without a particular destination, his mind went about trying to make sense of the things he was seeing, the things he was feeling. He was seeing that the woman's reiatsu was rising. In fact it rose with every encounter with a new spiritual being. He had first noticed it when she had bumped on to the Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki. When she'd come back, he had thought that he could sense a slight spike in her reiatsu but he had dismissed the notion as impossible. A being's total reiatsu didn't change; the powerful beings just knew how to control it so that the weaker ones didn't collapse. The second time when she'd met Rukia Kuchiki at the restaurant, her reiatsu had spiked once more. Ulquiorra couldn't believe what he was seeing and decided to observe her more carefully. But then her reiatsu seemed to stay stable for three weeks and he had started to believe that may be he was wrong. But today, after meeting with Grimmjow, he had sensed the rise once again and this time he was sure. Her reiatsu rose every time she met someone supernatural for the first time.

What he was feeling was something he did not understand. With each passing day, the odd woman was becoming more and more interesting to him. She was not a normal human being, of that he was completely sure, but what she was, he had no idea. The mystery about her intrigued him; she was a puzzle he wanted to solve. But he knew that it was no longer about the puzzle alone. The woman herself had somehow become important for him. How and in what capacity, he didn't know. But when he had sensed Grimmjow's volatile reiatsu, for the first time in his long life, he was afraid. Not for himself but for the woman. If the Shinigami hadn't interrupted when they did, the blue-haired Espada may have taken an unwanted interest on the strange human. And Grimmjow's interest never boded well for a human.

He thought back to the time in her house when the woman had all but surrendered to him. He had been very tempted to do exactly what she had expected him to do, in fact he had even considered doing it but then he dismissed the idea and did what he had originally set out to do. The woman was probably embarrassed but he was furious with himself for the lapse in control. She may not be a normal human, but she was still a human. He was a hollow and he'd do well to remember that. A human was fragile and would probably die a horrible death if a hollow was to satisfy his lust with it. He could not possibly give in to his lust. Therefore certain preventive steps had to be taken, both for his and her sakes.

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><p><strong>AN: **Yup! I am a troll XD


	8. Chapter 7

It is update time! This chapter doesn't have out batspada and you'll soon see why. However some vital information is given in this chapter. I mention a place called 'Simmons bridge', it's actually a nod to one of my original work in which this bridge has an important part to play. I needed the name of a place and I was having a brain-derp so went with this one. Oh and before you ask, there is no Ichihime in this story.

I have reached 50+ reviews so my traditional shoutout to **Cerice Belle, Setsuka510, Shadowcat 8511, Gorguts5, RinSessysGirl, The EnnocentOne, nypsy, Ichiruki27,luna, AkuRokuTurkTrainee, Elisa Von, V, Lilarin, crono, metsfan101, Hengenjizai, Tek9cb, Ulquihime7980, blue87, TheCatWithTheHat, Eva-Saiyajin**

News on 'Trust to Hope'- Darn ! I am stuck! I spent three days trying to write it I churned seven lines. Pathetic, I know. Cerice Belle thinks I have been working too much and that I should give myself a break, so that's what I'll do. Take a couple of days off and then get back to writing.

Special thanks to my ever awesome Beta Cerice Belle. I am horrible without her help. XD

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

"The rally begins on the 24th, which is two weeks from now. It starts at the town square, goes through the Simmon's bridge, then crosses the Public Library and ends in front of the ice-skating rink. So, you'll join?" Chizuru asked enthusiastically.

"What was the cause again?" Ryo asked as she twirled noodles on her plastic fork.

"We're rallying to give Pluto its status as a planet back. We think it was unfair to strip it off the title of a planet."

"Yeah well," Ryo said, taking a mouthful of noodles, "call me when you are rallying for a cause that is a little closer home. Besides," she dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin and continued, "I am pretty sure no one in Pluto cares if Earthlings deem it to be a planet or not."

Tatsuki snorted as Chizuru scowled. Rukia sat staring at her cup of noodles; completely oblivious to the conversation around her while Orihime drew doodles on the floor with her finger unmindfully.

"What's wrong with the two of you?" Tatsuki asked from the floor.

They were all currently at Tatsuki's house, having cup noodles and 'girls' time out' as Ryo called it. Chizuru and Tatsuki sat on the floor, their backs leaning against the wall. Rukia sat on the floor cross-legged with her cup held tightly in her hand. Ryo sat sprawled on the love seat, her legs dangling over the armrest while Orihime lay on the couch, flat on her stomach with her hand hanging on the floor.

Rukia looked up and said, "Oh please help me, my dear for I am unaware of how to proceed with the consumption of this food item."

"Are you telling me that you don't know how to have cup-noodles?" Chizuru asked incredulously.

"Yes," Rukia deadpanned.

As Tatsuki and Chizuru gaped, Ryo got up to help her; neither of them offered an explanation about her odd behaviour. When it was clear that no explanation was coming, Tatsuki turned to Orihime, whose cup noodles was left untouched,

"Orihme, what's wrong?"

"Hmmm? What?" The auburn haired woman turned her head to look at Tatsuki.

"What is wrong with you?" Tatsuki asked, emphasising each word.

"My roommate," she said, vaguely registering Rukia snapping her head up, "is a bi-polar demon."

Tatsuki grinned, "Oh come on, I am sure he's not that bad."

"Oh isn't he?" Orihime seethed as she sat up, "One day he's there behaving like he's worried about my well-being and safety and next day he's gone. Poof. Without as much as a squeak."

"Gone?" Rukia said with a frown, "Where?"

"How should I know?" She replied irritated, waving her hands in front of her "He's just missing. MIA."

"For how long?" Rukia persisted.

"Four days now," Orihime said with a scowl, "I have had it. I swear when I see him, if I see him at all that is, he's gonna get it."

"But how's that possible?" Rukia asked again.

"Again, how should I know? I was sort of hoping that _you_ would give me an answer," Orihime snapped irritably.

"How is Rukia supposed to know where your weird roommate is?" Chizuru ventured.

"Speaking of weirdness," Tatsuki said narrowing her eyes, "Rukia, looks like you can speak normally, so why do you speak in that weird language?"

Rukia's eyes widened and she said, "Mayhap you are mistaken milady, I always speak thusly."

"What the … ," Chizuru took a deep breath and turned to Ryo who was watching the proceedings with no change in her expression, "How is she related to you again?"

"Distant relation," Ryo answered. That was the answer she always gave, never elaborating further.

"I'm going home," Orihime said standing up suddenly, "I am tired, distracted and more than a little irritated. I am not the best company at the moment."

"I will ask for your leave too fair maidens," Rukia said immediately, "I will see you on another bright and shiny day."

The two of them strode out leaving behind three very confused girls. Outside Orihime said,

"Could you perhaps tone down a bit? You are too conspicuous with your overacting."

"Yes because really pale skin and green lines down the face aren't conspicuous at all," Rukia shot back. However she seemed to regret her words for she said, "Sorry that was uncalled for."

"Yeah. Well sorry for snapping at you back then. That was uncalled for as well," Orihime said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"So, Ulquiorra just took off? Without any explanation?" Rukia asked with a frown.

"Yes."

"And it's been four days you say?" the shorter woman was biting her lower lip thoughtfully.

"Yes. I don't suppose you have anything to do with it, do you?" Orihime asked.

"No we don't. In fact we were ordered to refrain from doing anything to him. '_Just watch from afar and step in only when the human's life is in danger'_. Those are our precise orders. We have been doing just that. We have been keeping track on reiatsu levels and nothing so far has given us a cause to be alarmed about. Nothing except that blue-haired Espada that is."

Orihime nodded, "So who gave you the orders?"

"So Ulquiorra disappeared the day after Grimmjow appeared? Very strange," Rukia said, completely ignoring Orihime's question.

The taller woman decided to let it pass and asked, "What's strange?"

"It's strange that I can still sense Ulquiorra's reiatsu around you. Yes his reiatsu is extremely high being a Vasto Lorde and all but in four days, the traces of it should have started to wear down. But I sense him around you as strong as ever."

"That is strange," Orihime conceded, "And Grimmjow? Do you sense him too?"

"No. I think he's left Karakura," Rukia didn't want to share the disturbing parting words of the Espada.

The human and the Shinigami then lapsed into silence for the rest of the journey to Orihime's home. Orihime invited Rukia in for a cup of tea which she politely declined. As she was about to leave she said,

"Orihime, please remember, Ulquiorra is a hollow."

Orihime stared after the Shinigami's retreating figure, unsure of the true meaning behind those words.

* * *

><p>By the 6th day, Orihime's anger had turned into anxiety. Unable to contain it any longer she went to Tatsuki's house after school.<p>

"What if something's happened to him?" Orihime said, voicing her worst fears.

"He's a grown man Hime, I am sure he can take care of himself. But if you are so worried, why not call up his parents, or some other relative? Maybe they know where he is?"

Orihime thought of Grimmjow and said, "There's only one that I know of and I don't dare to approach him. He's kinda scary."

"Oh come on. I'll go with you, if he tries anything, I'll kick his butt," Tatsuki was a karate champion and reigned as one of the best female fighters in the country.

Orihime smiled and said, "I don't doubt you will Tats, but I still want to stay away from him. He is more trouble than I care to handle."

"Alright then, let's go to the police and file a missing person's report. What say?"

The auburn haired girl smiled at her friend affectionately. She had no idea that the police would be useless. Orihime briefly wondered if she should tell the girl exactly who Ulquiorra was and why she could not go to the police. But she did not. She wasn't quite sure what to tell her anyway. Speaking about Ulquiorra would mean that she would have to tell her the truth about Ichigo and Rukia. She didn't think they'd appreciate that. So Orihime decided to keep her mouth shut. She changed the topic to the rally for Pluto in which Chizuru had somehow enrolled Tatsuki. Orihime and Ryo had managed to steer clear of it while Rukia had accepted the invitation rather enthusiastically. Orihime had the nagging suspicion that Rukia had no idea what she had signed up for. Tatsuki spent the rest of the evening heartily abusing Chizuru for talking her into it while Orihime laughed at her for her naiveté. An hour later, Orihime shrugged into her coat and was preparing to leave when Tatsuki asked her a question she had been afraid to ask herself.

"By the way, why are you so worried about Ulquiorra?"

"A person just ups and leaves, what would your reaction be?"

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow, "Answering a question with another question is a fantastic evasive method, you know that right?"

"And why would I want to evade the question?" Orihime asked with a frown.

"I don't know, you tell me," The black haired girl replied with a shrug.

"You are reading too much into nothing. I am simply worried because I consider him to be a friend. I'd be similarly worried if it had been you or Sado or Uryuu in place of Ulquiorra," Orihime said picking up her bag and strapping her sandals.

"If you say so Hime," Tatsuki did not sound completely convinced.

Orihime did not try to convince her friend any further. Wishing her goodnight, she stepped out of the house. Almost immediately she spotted the orange crown that belonged to Ichigo, although he was trying very hard to be inconspicuous.

"You might as well come out of hiding, Ichigo," Orihime called out with a smile.

Muttering a curse he stepped out and said, "I hate my hair."

Orihime laughed, "Hey I never paid attention to it before, but our hair colours are pretty similar."

"Yeah, now that you say it, your hair colour is very bright too," he said with a smile.

"So, why were you trying to hide?" She asked as she started to walk towards her house.

Ichigo fell into stride next to her and said, "Doing my duty of keeping an eye on you, preferably inconspicuously."

"You have to try harder than that," she said with a laugh.

"Think dying my hair black would help?" He asked seriously.

Orihime pretended to consider it and said, "Nah, I like it as it is. It looks like your head is on fire. It suits you."

"Excuse me? My head is on fire? How does that look suit me?" His hazel eyes were almost popping out.

"Oh you being the hot-head and all," Orihime replied airily.

Ichigo laughed, "You remind me of my sister Yuzu. She calls me a hot-head too."

"You have a sister?" Orihime was surprised.

"Yes, two. Yuzu and Karin. They are twins."

"Really? So are they Shinigami as well?"

"Oh no," Ichigo was kicking a pebble as they walked, "They are just normal inhabitants of the Soul Society."

"I thought you either have to be a Shinigami or a soul to be an inhabitant of Soul Society."

"No you don't," He said bouncing the pebble on his sneakers and throwing it away, "Although I can understand how you may have formed that opinion."

"So tell me more about Soul Society."

"Hmmm," he appeared to organize his thoughts, "Soul Society is like a huge city that has two parts – the Rukongai and the Seireitei. The Rukongai is where the souls go. They live there till they are ready to be reincarnated. The Seireitei is where the permanent residents live. They are the Shinigami, the souls that have broken free of the reincarnation cycle and the family members of the Shinigami who are born there. My father was a Shinigami, my mother a free soul and my sisters were born there."

"Your father _was_ a Shinigami? Has he passed away?"

"No, no, he retired," Ichigo replied with a smile.

"So, do Shinigami die?"

"Of course they do. No being is completely immortal. A Shinigami or a Hollow is immortal in the sense that they don't die naturally but they can be killed."

Frowning Orihime asked, "So where does a Shinigami go when he dies?"

Ichigo shrugged, "No idea. I have never seen a Shinigami die."

"You said free souls have broken free of the reincarnation cycle. How do they do that?"

"Wow, you are bursting with questions, huh?" He grinned, "A soul breaks free of the reincarnation cycle when their innermost desire has been met."

"What kind of desire? What can a person want so badly that it gets carried over after death?"

"Some desires are so strong that they get carried over to the next life. Desires like protecting a loved one, finding ones soul-mate, seeing your mortal enemy get his just returns. These are strong feelings and not easy to let go. That's why Rukongai is overcrowded."

Seeing as Ichigo was answering her questions easily she asked one that had been bothering her for a while, "How do certain humans end up with high reiatsu?"

"Two reasons. One could be that the soul was living close to Seireitei. The beings of Seireitei have high reiatsu and some souls sort of absorb it. The other being, sometimes if a human possessed a high reiatsu in the first birth; it gets carried over to the next," He paused to look at her before continuing, "although which of these apply to you, I can't say."

She nodded, "Can I ask you one last question?"

"You haven't exactly held back so far," He said with a wide grin.

She chuckled, "True. Who is Kisuke Urahara?"

The change in Ichigo's demeanour was faster than the blink of an eye. She felt his reiatsu rise sharply, causing her to stumble. He grabbed hold of her arm to support her and coldly said, "You are not even supposed to know of him. Forget you ever heard his name."

Without another word he let go of her arm and walked away. Without his support, Orihime fell to the ground on her fours, heaving.


	9. Chapter 8

****This chapter comes so quickly because a lot of it was already written. I just had to compile the whole thing. I introduce a couple of OCs here. I know some of you must be groaning at the inclusion of OCs but trust me, they were needed. I hate using OCs unless they are absolutely vital. In this case they are, although they won't occupy too much space in the bigger scheme of things as you'll see. Ulquiorra makes a minuscule appearance, lets see how many of you spot this.

The next chapter of Trust to Hope is in works, having changed the POV for the scene, I have gotten over the block so expect an update this week.

My Beta is out of town, and I am publishing without her. So if you spot any mistakes, please drop in a line.

Oh and when you click 'add story to alert' or 'add to favorites', what stops you from dropping in a line for review?

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

The last thing Orihime was aware of was a splitting headache before darkness took over and she collapsed on the street where Ichigo had left her.

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><p><em>She was in the garden, supposedly picking up flowers. What she was actually doing was watching him. She had discovered that if she parted a certain portion of the hedge that divided the two properties, she could directly see the training ground where he practiced sword play. He would be dressed in a black hakama, leaving his upper body bare. Sweat glistened on the perfectly sculpted body that was lean and muscular. His movements were fluid as he swished his sword with practiced ease. Watching him was like watching poetry in motion. She felt her mouth go dry as she watched him execute a particularly difficult move flawlessly. He drew her attention like no one ever did. He was her addiction, her fantasy, her desire. Whenever she closed her eyes trying to imagine who it was that she'd want to spend her life with, his rugged yet beautiful face came to her mind. She loved him with all her heart but he didn't even know that she existed. She supposed it was better that way, given their history. As she watched, he executed another move that took him out of her field of vision. She peered in further, as far as the hedge would allow, but it was of no use, she couldn't see him. She sat there, hunched awkwardly, her pale gold kimono restricting her movement, waiting with bated breath for him to appear again. A couple of minutes passed when suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, he crouched right in front of her on the other side of the hedge. She let out a squeak and stumbled backwards. He used his sword to part the hedge a little more and asked,<em>

"_Just what do you think you are doing?"_

_The timbre of his low voice sent a thrill down her spine but shock, embarrassment and mortification had robbed her tongue. _

"_Are you deaf or mute?" _

_She opened her mouth to say that she was neither but her voice seemed to have deserted her and as a result, she ended up opening and closing her mouth several times. _

"_Don't just sit there gaping like a fish, speak if you can." _

_It wasn't a statement, it was an order and that snapped her out of her trance. Trembling she stood up. She mustered her remaining dignity, turned around and with deliberate movements, walked away from the scene of her embarrassment. If she had turned around, she'd have seen the object of her fascination staring after her with a small smile on his face. _

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><p><em>She was at the fair with two of her friends. They were in front of a jewellery shop. She was looking at a beautiful silver pendant that was shaped like a star with small sapphires studded on it in an intricate pattern. It hung on a short silver chain. She ran her thumb over the pendant with a small smile lighting up her face.<em>

"_Do you like it, young lady?" The shopkeeper asked._

"_I do," She said her smile widening, "It's beautiful. How much is it?"_

"_Twenty coins." _

"_What? That's ridiculous. Reduce the price a bit," she said with a small frown._

"_Can't you read?" the shopkeeper said gruffly, hooking a thumb at the sign, "No bargaining. If you have the money, take it or go home."_

_She scowled and put the pendant back. The three girls left the shop. None of them noticed the young man approaching the shop in their wake. _

_The three girls were heading back home when they heard a deep voice call out, _

"_Just a minute, please."_

_All of them turned to find him standing behind them awkwardly. She gasped inadvertently. He took a step forward and said,_

"_Can I talk to you for a minute?"_

_Before she could reply, her friends stepped back, leaving her no choice but to talk to him. Her heart hammered wildly as she stood rooted in the spot. He moved a couple of paces closer and bowed,_

"_I am Ishikawa Tsuruga, may I ask your name please?"_

_Her heart beat so fast, she was sure he could hear it. The heat pooling in her face told her that she must be blushing like the setting Sun. Steeling herself she asked, "W-what do you want?"_

"_Just your name," he whispered. _

"_No. It's better that you don't know me," she said firmly._

"_Why?" _

"_Don't you know who I am?" she asked incredulously. He had seen her across the hedge, he had to have known. _

"_No I don't," he replied in his deep, low voice that made her knees go weak, "Though I would like to know you." _

_Her eyes grew wide, "Impossible! You are an Ishikawa and…"_

"_You are a Miyagi, so? Is that all that is there to you?"_

_She took a step back and said, "Please, if someone sees me talking to you, we'll both be in serious trouble. I have to go." _

_Saying so she turned to make a hasty departure when he said, "Before you go, I have something that belongs to you. I want to give it to you."_

_Absurdly she thought he was talking about her heart but then she realized he had no way of knowing. Curious she turned around to find him holding up a small pouch. With a frown she held out her hand and he dropped the pouch on her outstretched palm. _

"_I'll be waiting for you at the cherry blossom glade tomorrow evening, an hour before sunset," he bowed once more and left. She stared after him till he went out of sight and then looked at the small pouch in her hand. With uncertain, trembling hands she opened the pouch to find the silver pendant's sapphires shimmering at her._

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><p>Several hours later, she opened her eyes weakly and found herself lying on her bed, her blanket covering her. She shot up, immediately regretting the decision. Her head throbbed like someone had taken an anvil to it. She held her head in her hands and thought back to her conversation with Ichigo and how he had left her on the street. She was exceedingly angry at the Shinigami for abandoning her like that when she was unable to even move. As she was seething in anger towards Ichigo, something occurred to her – how was she on her bed? She had collapsed on the street from his reiatsu so how had she made her way to her home? She could think of only one explanation and that didn't please her a bit. She tried to slide from the bed and winced in pain. Her head hurt so much that her eyes wouldn't open. Blindly she groped her way to the kitchen, cursing Ulquiorra for being a turn-tail, especially now that she needed a roommate to give her an aspirin. A couple of bumps and two stubbed toes later, she had finally managed to make her way to the kitchen. Somehow she found the aspirin bottle and popped a pill into her mouth. She slumped on the kitchen floor, clutching her head, seeing spots. Her mind went back to the dream she'd had. For some reason it had felt very familiar. She supposed it was a historic romance novel that she'd read some time. Only God knew how many of those she'd read in her teens, always imagining herself as the heroine and letting her imagination paint the hero. Curiously, all her imagined heroes turned out to be tall, dark and handsome with vivid blue eyes and a ready smile. Her thoughts then went to Ulquiorra and she realized that he was completely different from her mental image. He was of average height, pale and had eyes that changed colour depending upon the form he was in. Much as she denied it, she knew that her feelings for Ulquiorra ran deeper than friendship, these six days had proved that to her. However she was unwilling to examine their depth. Whatever it was that she felt for him, had to be nipped, for obvious reasons. Therefore she would do what he'd suggested she do with Sora's memory, let it go. Her mind made up, she pulled herself off of the floor using the kitchen counter as support. Eyes still closed, she slowly made her way into the bedroom. She opened one eye tentatively and spotted her cell phone on the side table. She picked up the phone to realize that it was 11:30pm and that she had school the next day. The phone call she wanted to make would have to wait. She flopped herself on the pillow and promptly fell asleep.<p>

Outside her window, the wind gushed as gigantic wings took flight.

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><p>The next day turned out to be a horrible day for Orihime. She woke up late and consequently had to skip shower and have just one banana for breakfast. Then she missed the bus and had to take a taxi to school, which proved to be several times more expensive. Then as she was rushing into the school, the strap of her sandal broke, causing her to trip and skin her knees. The day proceeded to get worse as a child upturned a cup of tomato juice on her beige skirt. Later she realized that in her hurry she had forgotten her lunch and so she had to settle for a burger, which was too bland for her tastes. The bad day rounded off when one of her colleagues announced her engagement. Orihime had to struggle to not burst into frustrated tears. All in all, she was just in the perfect mood she needed to be in to make the call.<p>

She sat in her apartment, nursing a cup of coffee, a skinned knee and a bruised ego as she dialled a number on her cell phone. It was picked up on the 3rd ring.

"Hello," said a deep calm voice.

"Sado, is Ichigo around?"

"Just a minute," she could hear a couple of male voices having a quick conversation and the phone exchanging hands and then Ichigo's warm voice sounded,

"Hello?"

"You jerk!" Orihime somehow managed not to scream, "Just what exactly are you playing at?"

She heard him move away, perhaps out of earshot of Sado, "What do you mean?"

"First you knock me out cold with your reiatsu and then you bring me back home. What am I supposed to understand from that? Either you be kind or be an ass, don't give me mixed signals."

"What are you talking about?" He seemed confused, "I left immediately after our conversation."

"Oh thank God! So you were basically just being an ass," Orihime said sarcastically, "And here I was wondering that you had somehow developed a kind bone somewhere in your body."

"If you are done with your pointless insinuations," he sounded irritated, "then I would like to get back to my game."

"Sure, just leave me unconscious on the street to be mugged, raped or killed and then behave like it was nothing. Your way of 'protecting' people is exemplary."

"Listen," Ichigo snapped, "Just make up your damn mind what it is that you are angry about? That I left you on the street or that I supposedly sent you some mixed signals! Don't turn me into a fucking punching bag for your annoyance with your life in general."

Orihime cancelled the call without a word. Dropping the phone in front of her, she put her head in her hands and sighed. Unbidden the frustrated tears escaped her. Before she realized, she broke down completely, crying into her arms. Sometime later, having vented her anger, a thought struck her: If Ichigo had abandoned her on the street, how had she reached home? Almost instantly her lips gave her the answer before her mind had even mulled over it,

"Ulquiorra."


	10. Chapter 9

As per my promise, I am back with a chapter of this fic before the end of this week. Ulquiorra is back. As is Grimmkitty. I loved writing the scene between Ulquiorra and Grimmjow and I hope you all will enjoy it too. A question that Orihime asks Ulquiorra here is a question that was originally asked to me by AkuRokuTurkTrainee. I figured the answer to that question will give a lot of information, so I included it. A lot of you correctly guessed about the dream sequence in the last chapter, to those who didn't, hang on. I will explain.

News on other updates: I am currently working on a AU one-shot. I will publish it when I am done. As for Trust to Hope, I'll try to publish it by end of next week.

Beta: Cerice Belle

Edit: Apologies for the two alerts, I had uploaded the wrong document the first time.

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

"Ulquiorra!" She called out, "I know you are there. Please come here. We need to talk."

She was met with absolute silence. She was back in the lawn where she had been attacked by Sora. She briefly wondered if she should try calling him to get Ulquiorra out of hiding but then decided that she wasn't feeling particularly suicidal.

"Ulquiorra? Come on! I have like a million questions that you need to give answers to. So please, come out."

Silence.

Orihime lost it, "Will you stop being a wuss? Come out this very instant!"

She was met with silence yet again. Just as Orihime was about to call out once again, she heard it. It sounded like something was ripping apart behind her. She quickly turned around and the sight she met made her do a double-take. It looked as if the sky itself was tearing apart. From it emerged a gigantic hollow that was covered in what looked like a black bed-sheet with white spikes poking out from its overly long chest. Where it was supposed to have a face, it looked like it was wearing a skull like mask that had an especially long Pinocchio like nose with its Hollow hole near its abdomen. Orihime was too dumbstruck by its bizarre appearance to be afraid of it. She stood rooted at the spot as the Hollow made its way towards her in a strange jerky movement.

The Hollow stopped some way off from Orihime and opened its mouth. She was vaguely aware that she should move away from it, but a strange morbid fascination had rooted her to the spot. A bright red dot had appeared in front of the Hollow's mouth and it was steadily growing bigger. Then the creature hurled the sphere of light towards her. Something told Orihime that as soon as the light made contact with her, she was dead meat but she still could not move. Before the light could reach her, however, a figure with wings and tail landed between her and the Hollow and brushed aside the beam much like one brushes aside a fly. With the other hand he fired a beam of his own and the Hollow was blown to smithereens. That snapped her out of her daze.

"Ulquiorra?" She muttered, feeling strangely disorientated.

He turned his face slightly so that she could only see his sharp profile, "Go to your house woman, I'll meet you there."

Without waiting for a reply from her, he spread his wings and took off into the night.

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra landed gracefully on the roof of an apartment that faced Orihime's.<p>

"Why are you back?"

The blue-haired hollow turned around and grinned, "To see some action. It was good wasn't it?"

"You sent that Menos?"

"Indeed I did," Grimmjow said with excessive flair, "I wanted to have some fun."

"Aren't you worried about the Shinigami showing up?" Ulquiorra probed.

Grimmjow waved a hand dismissively, "I've ensured that they are busy."

"So this was why you left the Human plane?"

"Aye," He agreed grinning proudly, "Went to Hueco Mundo to find a few suicidal Menos. I had to get them to stop attacking each other and co-ordinate an attack here. Sounds easier than it is I tell you. Those beasts are fucking morons!"

"Why are you really here?" Ulquiorra had a bad feeling about seeing him twice in such quick succession.

"I wanted to make sure what I was thinking is right and guess what? Being right is fucking awesome!"

"And exactly what are you right about?"

"That you have chosen that human as your mate," Grimmjow grinned widely.

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, "Ridiculous."

Ignoring him Grimmjow continued, "However I wonder, what the fuck the woman sees in you?"

Ulquiorra's tone was icy, "What do you mean?"

"What?" the other Hollow groaned, "Have you met yourself?"

When Ulquiorra didn't reply, he continued, "Apparently not. Here, let me introduce you. Ulquiorra Schiffer, meet Ulquiorra Schiffer. He is dull, boring, and grave and a fucking tree trunk has more expressions than he does."

"If you are done spouting nonsense, I suggest you leave. Your presence here is unwanted," Ulquiorra commanded.

"Oh come on," Grimmjow said, "Lighten up already! Can't you help a bloody bored comrade?"

"Find some other means for your entertainment, trash."

Ulquiorra turned to leave when Grimmjow called out, "Like what? Listen to Szayel prattle endlessly about his 'research' or join the jackass Nnoitra in his mindless killing or maybe I should till a fucking pumpkin patch for Zommari so that he can keep an eye or fifty on them? No fucking thanks! I found an entertaining scenario here, I wanna have some fun."

Ulquiorra did not dignify Grimmjow with a response. Instead he flew away towards Orihime's apartment. Grimmjow smiled in the darkness.

* * *

><p>Orihime sat on her couch torn between anxiety, anger and excitement. Anxiety because she was worried that Ulquiorra would give her an earful about not dodging that light, anger at Ulquiorra's cowardice and excitement to be able to finally talk to him. She had really missed him.<p>

Soon enough she heard a clicking noise from her bedroom that signified his arrival. Orihime sprang to her feet and started to run but then slowed down. She didn't want him to know how eager she was to meet him. He had made her wait, so she would let him come and meet her. Slowly the winged, tailed and horned Hollow walked into the living room.

"Where have you been?" Orihime blurted out, unable to keep her mouth shut.

"I sensed Grimmjow's reiatsu. I went to check."

"You were tracing Grimmjow for seven days?" Orihime asked incredulously.

"No. I meant now," He clarified.

"Oh, right. And what about these seven days?" She asked.

"I thought our deal was that we would not interfere in each other's matters?"

Orihime could have slapped her forehead, she'd completely forgotten about that clause of their deal. Since she had been the one who had proposed the deal in the first place, she couldn't ask him anything, no matter how curious she felt. Ulquiorra's move was flawless, she didn't have any words to break it and so she conceded her defeat.

"Fine! You win. You think you can answer some of my other questions?"

He nodded.

Orihime held up a finger, asking him to wait. She went into her room and grabbed a blanket. On her way to the living room, she made a small detour into the kitchen. She dumped the remaining coffee from earlier in the evening down the sink. Grabbed a packet of chips and salsa, along with some caramelized strawberries and crystalized ginger and then made her way to the couch. She found Ulquiorra sitting on the couch in his human form. She imagined his tail would get in the way otherwise. Stifling a giggle at the mental image of him rolling his tail around himself like a dog, she settled down next to him, wrapping the blanket around her.

"Ready?" She asked.

He nodded.

"Now here's what I have been thinking. Remember you said that every time I meet a new spiritual entity my reiatsu rises?"

"Yes," He said stoically, "It has risen yet again."

"What? You mean because of that gigantic Hollow?"

"Yes. It's called a Menos Grande," Ulquiorra explained, "It is the lowest class of the greater hollows."

"Greater hollows meaning like you and Grimmjow?" She asked

"Don't take that trash's name in the same breath as mine. But yes, we are greater hollows. Lowest being a Menos Grande, next comes an Adjucas. Grimmjow is an Adjucas. Last is a Vasto Lorde."

"Like you," She whispered.

He nodded. She gave a low whistle realizing that he was more powerful than she had imagined.

"You were saying?" He prompted.

"Oh, yes! When I was talking to Ichigo the other day, he said that some souls who live close to se- se- some place in Soul Society where all the Shinigamis live, they absorb the reiatsu. So maybe I am doing it too?"

"Seireitei. And no, that is not the case with you," He supplied.

"Why not?"

"Well," he said, "You are a human being. There are a certain set of rules that apply to a Shinigami, a Hollow and a Human. But souls are different. The rules for them are different."

"Different how?" She asked, bringing her knees under her chin.

"Souls are the building block of a being. Be it a human, a Hollow, or a Shinigami they are all essentially a soul that has either come into the mortal world, or lost its identity and sanity or transcended and become an Angel. But a soul that lives in the Rukongai is pure and is free from any such bond. Therefore it is free to absorb reiatsu. A human cannot do that. A Hollow becomes more powerful by internalizing other Hollows. I am basically one soul who has absorbed many other souls and their reiatsu. A Shinigami becomes more powerful by releasing souls of their Earthly bonds. The basic reiatsu of a being like a human stays the same – always."

Orihime frowned, "And that's why you found it strange that mine changes?"

"Yes, I have never seen anything like it," He confessed.

Orihime became thoughtful as she munched on a tortilla chip topped with salsa, caramelized strawberry and crystalized ginger. After she'd finished her 5th chip she realized she hadn't offered him any and so gestured for him to take some. He shook his head in denial. It was his turn to ask a question.

"You said you have seen Hollows before you met me?" when she nodded, he continued, "Care to elaborate?"

Seeing her chance, Orihime grinned evilly and said, "Sure I will, but on one condition, you'll tell me where you have been for seven days?"

Ulquiorra's eyes widened slightly and then the corners of his lips twitched, "I needed some time to myself. I was here, just invisible to humans – including you."

"Why?" she asked immediately.

"I believe you said you'll answer my question when I replied 'where' I had gone. I don't remember you including a 'why' in the condition," He replied with the hint of a smirk.

"You…You drive a mean bargain," Orihime replied scowling.

"You are one to talk," he countered.

She giggled, "True. OK so, why do I say I have seen Hollows and Shinigamis before? Well, I had a dream, only there are reasons for me to believe that it wasn't just some dream, it was a memory. In that I saw a Hollow and a Shinigami. That's what leads me to believe that I have been seeing them before."

Ulquiorra was thoughtful, "But you seemed very surprised when you first saw me. That means …"

"I had forgotten this incident for some reason," Orihime completed his sentence with a frown.

"You said you were three years or so old at the time?"

Orihime nodded.

"As far as I know of humans, it's not uncommon for them to forget events of their early life."

"Indeed," she agreed, "But if I could see Hollows at the age of three, shouldn't it mean I should be able to see them at thirteen or seventeen as well?"

Ulquiorra nodded in agreement.

"Then why don't I remember seeing them? And why am I seeing them suddenly at the age of twenty three?" She was thoroughly puzzled.

"I can't answer that. One doesn't stop seeing supernatural beings and then resume seeing them again for no apparent reason," he paused and then added thoughtfully, "unless …"

When she realized that he had left the sentence unfinished, she probed, "Unless?"

He seemed to weigh his words before saying, "I have a theory but to validate it, I need to ask a few questions to someone who can account for the early years of your life …"

"My parents," Orihime cut in morosely, "I didn't want to have anything to do with them but I believe they have some answering to do."

Although her parents weren't exactly who he had thought of originally but he decided to go with her idea. He reasoned that getting answers out of her human parents would be easier than trying to worm an answer out of the elusive Urahara Kisuke. During the past seven days, he had tried to locate the Shinigami, but he seemed to have disappeared from the mortal plane. Ulquiorra could not detect even a hint of his reiatsu.

"It's decided then," Orihime cut through his reverie, "we are paying a visit to my parents this weekend. Expect a less than warm welcome."

"Your parents' warmth or the lack thereof notwithstanding, we do have one other thing to be worried about."

"And that would be?"

"Grimmjow Jagerjaquez," he watched her eyes grow wide, "He seems to have taken an interest in you."

"When you say interest, you mean …" Orihime asked tentatively.

"When Grimmjow is involved in the equation, I am never quite sure what the result will be. Expect the unexpected," Ulquiorra said with his eyes closed.

"Great, that's just what I wanted," she said exasperated.

"Really?" Ulquiorra raised a quizzical brow.

"Sarcasm Ulquiorra!" she replied wearily.

Although he didn't say anything, Orihime could almost hear him thinking 'humans are strange.'

* * *

><p>That night Orihime went to bed with a smile. Despite having had a horrible day, she was happy. His return had taken off all her frustrations. Even the plethora of questions swirling in her head could not blunt the happiness coursing through her. With Ulquiorra's return, she realized that she no longer felt empty.<p>

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><p><strong>AN: **Like it? Setting a favorite/alert? Y u no leave a review?


	11. Chapter 10

Apologies for being late. Blame Legend of Korra and the Makorra goodness that I have been salivating over. Not much to say for this chapter except **please read &** **review. **(Its that nice new shiny button).

Oh and do check out my new Ulquihime one shot **One Night Heartbeat** if you already haven't.

Beta Cerice Belle

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Sometimes life threw curveballs. When Orihime had planned for a visit to her parents on the Saturday, she hadn't counted on the curveball life was about to throw at her. Three days later, on Friday evening, Orihime was at the grocery store with her roommate when she heard a familiar voice call out.

"Orihime!"

She whirled around to find Uryuu walking towards her with a bright smile and confident strides along with … What the hell?

She and Ulquiorra exchanged a look of utter mortification. Walking towards them, with Uryuu, was a tall, muscular man with electric blue hair. Dressed in a deep blue shirt with the first couple of buttons left open, a pair of tight black pants, a black biker jacket and sneakers, the man exuded an aura of danger. Only Ulquiorra and Orihime knew, he wasn't exactly a man.

"Hi Uryuu," she said weakly.

"Fancy running into you both here," he said brightly, "I was just telling my friend here about you. Orihime, meet my friend Grimmjow Jagerjaquez. Grimmjow, this is Orihime and this is …"

"Holy shit! Ulquiorra! Small world dude!" Grimmjow said with a wide smile.

Ulquiorra could only stare.

"You guys know each other?" Uryuu asked baffled.

"Oh yes, from way back, isn't it?" Grimmjow said with a wink.

Ulquiorra had recovered from the shock, "I certainly did not expect you here."

Grimmjow shrugged, "Well what can I say; I have always had the flair for doing the unthinkable."

"You mean the flair for dramatics," Ulquiorra said with barely concealed disdain.

"Tch, always the condescending one!" Grimmjow could hardly contain his glee.

Before Ulquiorra could respond, Orihime turned to Uryuu and posed a question hastily, "How do you know him?"

Uryuu's eyes softened as he looked at her and replied, "It was quite an accident actually. I hit him with my car. It was dark and I hadn't seen him till the very last second. It was almost as if he appeared out of nowhere," Uryuu grinned sheepishly, "I stepped out to apologize, and somehow, we ended up as friends."

"Quite the story," Ulquiorra said, his emerald eyes fixed on Grimmjow's cool blue ones.

Uryuu narrowed his eyes looking at the two. Orihime knew it wouldn't be long before Uryuu caught the hostile undercurrent between the two Hollows; she had to distract him somehow. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind,

"Come on, let's have dinner together."

Orihime did a mental facepalm, in an effort to get Uryuu's attention off of the two Hollows, she had come up with an idea where all of them would spend more time in each other's company – great, just great! The three males had very interesting expressions on their faces.

Ulquiorra's told her that she had lost her mind; Uryuu was surprised and Grimmjow was beside himself with joy.

"Ummm yeah, sure," Uryuu agreed, "Grimmjow?"

"Fuck yeah, I'd love to catch up with Ulquiorra here," he was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"It's settled then," Uryuu said with a smile, "Let's go to _The Hearth_. It's close and the food is great."

"Deal," Grimmjow said enthusiastically.

Orihime had to salvage a situation that was quickly getting out of hand and from the 'hands-stuffed-in-the-pockets-head-turned-away' pose that Ulquiorra had, she knew that no help would be coming from that front. It was his way of saying 'you dug your own grave'.

"Ummm, we … we still have some shopping to do," she cast her eyes at her obviously full grocery cart and cringed inside, "How about we meet you there directly soon?"

"Nonsense!" Grimmjow said waving his hand in front of his face, "Uryuu here has his car, and we'll go together."

Uryuu came to her aid unintentionally, "I have some shopping to do myself, so let's meet here in say, twenty minutes?"

"That works," Orihime agreed a little too quickly. Before Grimmjow could come up with something, she grabbed Ulquiorra's hand and marched away, leaving behind a very confused Uryuu.

Once Orihime was out of earshot, she turned to Ulquiorra, "How come you didn't sense his reiatsu? What is he doing here? Where are Ichigo and Rukia? What …"

"Why do you ask so many questions in one go?" Ulquiorra cut her tirade.

Orihime smiled weakly, "Bit of a bad habit I guess. But ..."

Before she could continue, Ulquiorra started answering, "His reiatsu has been hanging around for a while now. I think he has been tracking you. I have been keeping an eye out, but it looked like he was content with merely following you. He didn't give a clue of what he had been up to. As for the Shinigami, I have no idea where they are. I haven't sensed them even once since Grimmjow came to Karakura the second time."

"Why? What's going on?" Orihime asked nervously, "You don't suppose Grimmjow's done something to them, do you?"

"Grimmjow isn't as stupid as he appears to be. I believed he's done something to keep them off his trail, but I don't think he has harmed them. There is a method to his madness," Ulquiorra replied thoughtfully.

"I am worried for Uryuu," she said biting the nail of her thumb, she failed to notice the brief sharp look Ulquiorra gave her, "I just hope he's not I any kind of danger."

He stuffed his hands into the beige and brown jacket, "What exactly were you thinking when you proposed the dinner?"

Orihime had been wondering when he would ask her that, "That's the thing," she said with a sheepish grin, "I wasn't thinking. I just saw that Uryuu was picking up the icy vibes between the two of you so I had to distract him. I blurted out the first thing that came to me without really thinking about it and now …"

"Now we are stuck, forced to spend the next hour or so in the company of the very Hollow we want to avoid. Brilliantly done," Anyone else wouldn't have noticed it, but Orihime figured out that he was extremely annoyed.

"Yeah," she said ruefully, "Sorry about that."

Ulquiorra nodded and looked away. He was trying his best to contain his intense anger at Grimmjow for showing up like this, the indescribable feelings that he felt for the woman and the unpleasant emotion that surged within him towards Uryuu Ishida. This woman lay at the bottom of it all. She was making him behave in strange ways. Normally, sensing Grimmjow's reiatsu hovering so close, he would have gone to investigate. But ever since that Menos incident, he wasn't willing to leave the woman alone even for a minute. He had told her as much and had made it clear that till he was assured that she was completely safe, he would be around her, sometimes visible and sometimes not.

The seven days that he had spent away from her had done nothing to clear his head. He had lived for centuries and yet, never had he faced a situation like the one he was facing now. He was inexplicably drawn to this human. He had originally intended to leave the mortal plane and go to Hueco Mundo, but he had not been able to leave. Instead he had lingered around her, watching her, but never coming in front of her, not till the Menos had attacked.

When Kurosaki had abandoned her in the streets, he had resisted the burning urge to cero him into oblivion. The only desire that was greater than the instant decimation of the Shinigami was the wellbeing of the woman. He had scooped her up and flown her home. Kurosaki's reiatsu had done a significant amount of damage. She was unconscious and had been muttering some strange words. He knew she would figure out sooner or later that it was he who'd brought her but he didn't care. As long as she was safe, that's all that mattered to him.

Although he had scoffed at Grimmjow for suggesting it, the idea had taken root. Had he, perhaps, chosen this frail human as his mate? His mind told him the very thought was preposterous, but his body seemed to have developed a mind of its own. When it came to her safety, it seemed to act on its own. Pleasing warmth had engulfed him when she had welcomed him back. When he factored in his unwillingness to leave, the peace he felt around her and the unpleasant sensations coursing through him when she had worried about Ishida, he had to grudgingly admit that maybe, just maybe, for once, the trash was right.

Ulquiorra had never been more at odds. His two most dominant desires were in direct conflict with each other and it was driving him to the edge. He desperately desired the woman but he wanted to protect her from all harm and that included himself. If he gave in to his desires, the resultant harm would be much more than the combined harm inflicted by Kurosaki, the Menos and her brother's soul. Therefore Ulquiorra was stuck in a limbo and it wasn't a very comfortable place to be in.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, the four of them were in Uryuu's car. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow were in the back-seat, much to Ulquiorra's chagrin Orihime supposed. The car ride was dominated by an uncomfortable silence. Uryuu tried unsuccessfully to break the ice a couple of times but then gave it up.<p>

They reached _The Hearth_ shortly afterward. Once out of the car, Uryuu grabbed Orihime's hand and led her inside. She did not miss the covert sideways glance he shot at Ulquiorra, who, she noticed, had understood the implied challenge. His viridian eyes had narrowed imperceptibly. Orihime's taut nerves couldn't handle a session of clashing male egos, so she let Uryuu drag her. _What is the point in pining after Ulquiorra anyway?_ She reasoned wisely.

Ulquiorra watched the human drag the woman away. The demon inside him roared, demanding obliteration of the human but he reined in his bloodlust. He wasn't some trash like Grimmjow who would take the bait from a mere human.

"So you ain't gonna do jack shit?" Grimmjow asked, mimicking his hand in pocket pose.

"I am not going to play your childish games Jagerjaquez," Ulquiorra retorted.

"Childish?" Grimmjow's ice-blue eyes widened in mock offence, "Here I was thinking that move was bloody genius and you call it childish?"

"You are an Espada, all this should be beneath you," Ulquiorra started to walk into the restaurant.

"And coochie-cooing with a human isn't beneath an Espada at all? Fuck you and your bloody double-standards," Grimmjow spat.

The very next instant, Ulquiorra's hand was locked around Grimmjow's neck in a vice-like grip, "If you weren't an Espada, you would have been lying in a pile of dust at my feet for that insolence."

Grimmjow let a feral grin adorn his face as he swung his fist into Ulquiorra's stomach. The only sign that showed that the punch had hurt the green eyed Espada was his briefly closed eyes. He then flung Grimmjow to the side like a rag-doll. The blue-haired hollow growled and sprung to his feet. He aimed a punch at Ulquiorra's face, which was easily blocked. The punch was, however, a decoy. The real attack was the kick aimed at the shorter Espada's groin. With a grunt Ulquiorra doubled over, Grimmjow moved in to attack. But he couldn't follow through with the plan because of a stern voice that interrupted them.

"Excuse me," the speaker was a tall man dressed smartly in black shirt and pant, "You are creating nuisance in a public-property. You are both under arrest for disrupting peace."

Neither of the Hollow quite understood what the person meant, but from Orihime's expression, Ulquiorra knew it was bad.

* * *

><p>Two hours later Ulquiorra found himself sitting in a cage-like room, with Grimmjow sitting next to him. The room was so small that had Ulquiorra changed his form, he wouldn't have fit. The woman's ashen expression had told him that he had perhaps crossed an invisible line, but what was it that had troubled her thus, he had no idea. Beside him, Grimmjow looked as clueless as he felt. There were a few other men in the room, all sitting or standing with sombre expressions on their faces.<em> Have they crossed that invisible line as well?<em> He wondered.

Another man, dressed in similar black uniform opened the cage and pointed at the two of them, "You have been released, your fines paid."

The two Hollows exchanged a look and collectively left the cage. Outside, along with the woman stood Uryuu Ishida, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki. Barring the orange-haired Shinigami, everyone looked very serious. Ichigo looked beside himself with joy.

"Ulquiorra, Grimmjow," Ichigo's pretended concern couldn't have fooled a three-year- old, "how did you guys land here?"

"Let's just go home shall we?" Orihime butted in irritably, "We've all had a long day. Ichigo, Rukia, thanks for helping us out. Uryuu, we'll get together some other day, drive safe."

Without waiting for any response from anyone, Orihime whirled on her heels and marched out of the Police station.

As Ulquiorra made to follow, Ichigo grabbed his arm, "A word with you," he said seriously.

The two of them walked out together. Once out of everyone's earshot, Ichigo raised his reiatsu slightly and said, "Why are you back, Hollow?"

"None of your business Shinigami," Ulquiorra responded evenly.

"Tell your buddy there to get lost," Ichigo said aggressively.

"You want him gone, then why don't you tell him yourself? Or are you scared?"

Ichigo took the bait, "Scared my foot! I am not scared of anyone! I am warning you Hollow …"

"Keep your empty threats to yourself Shinigami," Ulquiorra cut in, showing slight annoyance, "If you could, you would have done something by now. It's obvious that you are forbidden from laying a hand on either of us. So wipe that smug look of your face and get back to your duties as a watch dog."

Ichigo's reiatsu flared instantly. He let it rise even more than he had done when he had hurt Orihime. In response Ulquiorra's reiatsu flared. The two of them tried to intimidate each other without raising their hands. Suddenly a loud thud sounded behind Ulquiorra. He turned around to find Orihime collapsed on the street.

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><p><strong>AN: **And you thought they would be visiting her parents? Troll'd ya! ;)


	12. Chapter 11

I think I will reach 100 reviews for this fic with this chapter, so a shout-out will come in the next chapter.

I am going on a trip with family this weekend, so I will respond to reviews a little late.

As usual, read n review.

This chapter couldn't be beta'd because I was in a hurry.

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

_Moonlight trickling into the room from the windows bathed it in silver light that made everything look bluish. She lay on her bed, dressed in a pristine white night gown, her blond hair splayed around her like a halo. She had a small smile on her face as she played with the sapphire studded silver pendant that now adorned her neck. It had become her habit. She couldn't take her eyes off the pendant, her hands found it at all times. Every time she touched it, a small smile graced her beautiful lips. _

_Suddenly she heard a small scratching somewhere close by. She sat upright on her bed, looking for the source of the noise. A few moments of silence ensued and she decided that she must have imagined the sound; after all she had been told repeatedly that she possessed an overactive imagination. As she was about to lie down, the sound was repeated again. This time she was sure she heard it and that it was coming from her balcony. It seemed like someone was trying to pry it open from outside. Frowning she stood up from her bed. _

_Miyagi women had always been trained well enough to defend themselves and therefore she wasn't afraid. Assuming that it was a thief, she armed herself with the knife that she kept under her pillow and tiptoed to the balcony. The scratching noise continued unabated. Slowly, as surreptitiously as she could, she undid the bolt, making almost no sound. She then leaned on the wall and waited, prepared to face whoever came through the door. She didn't have to wait at all. It was as if the person outside had known that she'd unbolted the lock. The doors of the balcony were thrown open and a medium height, lithely built man walked into the room. Seeing the man, the knife dropped from her hand. She hadn't been prepared for THIS. The man turned to face her, a small smirk playing on his lips. He bent down and picked up the knife,_

"_I think you dropped this," he held the knife in his hand, the hilt facing towards her. _

_She found her voice, "W - What are you doing here?" she asked in a mortified whisper. _

_She ran to the balcony frantically and shut the doors, bolting them for added measure, "What if someone saw you? What if this wasn't my room? What if someone hears us? Why are you here? What …?"_

"_Shhh," he silenced her, "No one saw me. But the way your voice is raising, someone is sure to hear you. As for how I know this is your room, I am your neighbour. How difficult do you think it is for me to keep an eye on the house?"_

"_You think this is a joke?" she asked, aware how panic laced her voice sounded, "If any of my brothers or uncles sees you here, you will be killed, no questions asked."_

_He shrugged, walked over to her bed and sat down, "Well, they didn't see me, so let's make most of the time we have here."_

_She stared at him disbelievingly, "What are you doing here?"_

"_I need to talk to you," he replied nonchalantly, "Since you wouldn't come to Cherry Blossom Glade, I had to come here."_

"_I … I couldn't make it that day," she replied not looking at him._

"_And the day after, and the next day and the next day as well," he said, his tone mildly playful, "In fact, you couldn't make it there even once in the past six days, right?"_

"_N-N-No, th-that's not …" somehow she couldn't bring herself to complete the lie. _

"_I was waiting for you," he said studying the hilt of the knife, his voice still retaining its playfulness, "for six consecutive days, well after sunset."_

_She hugged herself around the middle, to stop her thudding heart. That traitor kept telling her to run into his arms and hide herself in there. Taking a deep breath, she looked away from his handsome face, "I didn't feel the need to."_

"_Obviously," he said with a smirk, "But," he said after a pause, "For some reason, you feel the need to wear the pendant I gave you."_

_Her hand flew to grab the pendant as colour flooded her cheeks. Quickly she turned around keeping her back towards him. She was focussed on steadying her breathing when she heard his voice whisper in her ears,_

"_So beautiful!" _

_Startled she turned around to find herself almost bumping against his chest. She had no idea when he had moved this close to her. She stood there, dumbfounded, staring into those mesmerizing eyes of his. If her breathing had been erratic before, now it was completely forgotten. The two of them stood there, with barely a hair's breadth separating them, completely lost in each other. Somewhere outside a cricket chirped. That broke the trance she was under and she started to turn away hastily. However, he was faster than her. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against himself. _

"_Tsuruga!" she whispered, torn between an incredible happiness and a deep seated fear._

_He ran his thumb against her jawline and her eyelids fluttered shut. In a low whisper he said, "Not so fast my princess, you are yet to tell me your name."_

_She was completely under his spell. If he'd asked her to jump from her window, she'd probably have done it, "Akazumi," she replied breathlessly._

_He lowered his head to her ears, "Akazumi. Tomorrow evening, at the Cherry Blossom Glade, an hour before sunset." _

_Her throat had dried and her heart beat so fast, it threatened to leap out of her chest. Not trusting her voice, she nodded. Then, just as suddenly as she'd found herself in his embrace, she was out of it. She opened her eyes and whirled around but he was gone. She hadn't slept a wink that night._

* * *

><p>Orihime's eyes fluttered open. She was aware of a happy smile gracing her lips. She could feel Akazumi's happiness course through her body. She could almost feel Tsuruga's touch on her own skin. She found herself craving for it. She blinked, what was she thinking? She had no idea who these two were, why was she feeling their emotions? Why was she yearning for a man she didn't even know? Just a few hours ago she had been telling herself to not pine for Ulquiorra and now she wanted another, albeit fictional, man's touch? What was wrong with her?<p>

Realizing that she was lying on her own bed, she sat up slowly. Her body was very sore and she seemed to be aching all over. With the movement she realized that she had a mild headache as well. She sighed deeply and got off the bed when Ulquiorra's voice sounded from somewhere in the room.

"You are awake."

"It would seem so," Orihime replied, her earlier irritation with him returning.

"You are so fragile," something about the way he said it sounded condescending to Orihime and as a result she snapped.

"Well, pardon me;" she said angrily, "I am a mere human caught bang in the middle of a centuries old turf-war between two types of supernatural entities. Normal women my age worry about jobs, boyfriends and finances. Me? I worry about Hollows consuming my soul, or a Shinigami spying on me without me knowing it or my brother's soul killing me! And if not that, then my Hollow roommate ends up in a jail! Why me? What did I do to deserve this? I … I didn't ask for this. All I wanted was a normal life, is that too much to ask?"

With that, she flopped down on the floor breaking down into sobs, hiding her face into her hands. She sensed Ulquiorra kneel in front of her. He pried her hands off very gently, "I don't understand, why are you crying?"

"That is the problem Ulquiorra," she said hiccupping slightly, "You don't understand. You'll never understand."

Ulquiorra frowned, "I know humans cry when they are sad. Something I have said or done has made you sad, I want to know what."

Orihime looked down at her hands which Ulquiorra held with a frown. Her brain was making a connection but she was too frustrated and tired to understand what it was trying to tell her.

"Forget it," she said, more to herself than to him, "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I want to be in the best of health when I go to meet my parents."

Saying so she pulled her hand out of his grasp and stood up. He followed suit. As she turned to get back into her bed, Ulquiorra said,

"Woman, where was I taken today?"

With a weary sigh she said, "Jail."

"Jail? What is that?"

"It is a place where the Police keep the criminals," she did't turn to face him.

"Police?"

"The law enforcement Ulquiorra," she replied tiredly. She sat down on the bed finally facing him, "The human society runs on certain rules. For example, you cannot steal, break or damage public properties, start fighting or kill people. These are considered crimes. If you are to live as a part of the human world, you will have to follow the law. There's no way around it. Break the law and Police will arrest you and dump you into jail."

Ulquiorra nodded.

"Although," Orihime added thoughtfully, "I must say I'm thankful, very surprised, but extremely thankful that you or Grimmjow didn't Cero that Officer. That would have led to such a mess."

"I can't speak for Grimmjow, but I won't say I wasn't tempted to. But I felt like it would displease you. I think I have displeased you enough for one day," Ulquiorra replied.

Despite herself Orihime smiled, "Thank you."

He nodded, his face set in a frown. Orihime had the distinct impression that there was something bothering him but before she could ask, he changed into his winged form, "You have had a tough day. Catch up on your rest. You have a long day tomorrow."

Without waiting for a response from her, he flew out of her window.

* * *

><p>When Orihime awoke after a fitful sleep, she found Ulquiorra sitting on the window ledge, his back against the wall, one of his legs dangling and the other folded to support one of his hands. The other hand lay on the windowsill casually. He seemed to be staring out into nothing. No one who saw the languid pose could have believed that this wasn't a human. Orihime lay on her bed quietly, taking in the beautiful yet dangerous being in front of her. She would have continued to admire him quietly, but he spoke up without changing his posture.<p>

"Shouldn't you be getting ready to meet your parents?"

"How did you know I'm awake?" Orihime asked perplexed.

"Your breathing pattern changed," he replied calmly.

"Remind me not to ask such pointless questions to you next time," Orihime muttered dryly as she got off the bed.

"Will do."

Orihime rolled her eyes. Standing up she stretched and sighed, "Visit to my parents. I am so not looking forward to it."

Ulquiorra did not reply. Fifteen minutes later, Orihime sat curled on her couch, holding a cup of coffee in her hands. Her roommate walked in to the living room, his hand stuffed into the pockets. Dressed in a black pinstripe suit that Orihime had rented just for this occasion, and a maroon shirt, he seemed ready to leave. He looked at her attire that consisted of sports-bra and PJs.

"What?" Orihime snapped.

"What?" he echoed.

"You are thinking why I am not being eager to go to my parents, aren't you?"

Sitting down on the couch he said, "I am thinking no such thing."

"Yes, you are. You looked at me funny," she persisted.

"I looked at you funny," Ulquiorra deadpanned, "So now you are going to tell me that Humans have something against _looking_?"

"I know you are thinking that, you just have to," Orihime persisted standing up.

"I _have to_ think that way?" he sounded perplexed.

"Yes, I mean here I am, going to that house for the first time since giving them the money a few months ago," she had begun to pace agitatedly, " I have not called them even once in all this while. I mean if Sora was still alive, then I probably wouldn't have spoken to them ever. I have nothing but bad memories of them. I really don't want to go. They will be rude, arrogant and passive-aggressive at best. I don't even want to think what it's going to be like. I …"

"Is there a point in telling me all this?" Ulquiorra interjected.

"What?" she whirled around.

"Since yesterday you have been behaving downright strange, even for you, and that's saying something."

Her eyes narrowed, "Did you just insult me?"

"No," he replied unperturbed, "I just told the truth."

"Fine, so care to explain your 'truth'?" she asked sarcastically.

He leaned back on the couch, crossed his legs and said, "You started crying but you wouldn't tell me why you cried, then this morning you are telling me what I 'should' be thinking. You are behaving very strangely. I don't know what to make of it."

Orihime wanted to scream and shout but she realized the truth in his words, "Well," she said after a couple of deep breaths, "You see, I am a nervous wreck. I was fine till Grimmjow showed up. But somehow, he popping up like this makes me think that this is a bad omen. I can't shake off the feeling that something bad is about to happen."

"There are no such things as 'bad omens'. It's Human foolishness," Ulquiorra retorted.

Orihime opened her mouth to argue but then thought better of it and sighed, "I guess there's no point in dithering, is it? Wait here, I'll be back."

* * *

><p>One and a half hour later, the two stood in front of giant oak doors of the Inoues. Taking a deep breath, Orihime rung the bell. From inside, she could hear the bark of a dog.<p>

_Strange,_ she thought, _since when do they have dogs?_

Someone silenced the dog and she could hear footsteps approaching. Nervously she clutched her skirt. The bolt was opened. She wildly imagined herself fleeing helter-skelter, much like characters from an anime, but dismissed the absurd image from her mind as the door opened slowly to reveal the face of a perfect stranger.

"Yes, how may I help you?" the man asked politely

"Ummm, sorry, but I… I was looking for Hideki Inoue," she was completely confused.

"Oh the Inoues, yes, they used to live here, but we brought the house from them two months ago," the man said with a smile, "Their only child died you see, that's why they sold the house."

"Only child?" Orihime recoiled as if slapped.

"Yes, Mr Inoue told me. Tragic that such a young man should pass away like this," the man said sympathetically.

Fighting the tears and bile rising from within, she asked one last question in a whisper, "Do you know where they live now?"

"No Miss, no idea."

"Thanks," she all but ran from the porch, with Ulquiorra following close behind.


	13. Chapter 12

Hello there! I know I am late and I'm sorry for that. I had an eye-allergy couple of weeks ago and it really threw me out of my rhythm. I somehow finished the chapter of Trust to Hope and then got struck by a horrible block. Took me 3 re-writes to get this chapter in this shape. Thank you for all your patience, much appreciated.

Beta **Cerice Belle**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

The next day, Orihime sat on a barstool at her apartment, drumming her fingers on the table with nervous energy. Sitting across her, Ulquiorra watched her calmly. Yesterday she had reached her apartment as fast as she could, stormed into her bedroom and locked the door. Ulquiorra had tried to talk to her but she had refused to open the door until midnight, when she'd stepped out, with running make-up and puffy eyes. She had made a sandwich for herself, eaten it in absolute silence and then retreated to the bedroom yet again.

This morning she had woken up and declared that she was going to find 'those pathetic excuses for parents', if that was the last thing she did. Since then, she had called some of her cousins and so far none of them had any idea where they could be. The last person she had called had said that he was driving and couldn't talk but had told her that he would get back to her soon.

That was half an hour ago. Since then, she had been sitting on that bar-stool, drumming that nervous rhythm, staring daggers at her cell-phone as if she could wish it into ringing. Ulquiorra remained a silent observer to the entire proceedings.

When the phone finally rang, Orihime jumped up and grabbed the phone with both hands which were shaking so badly that she almost dropped it. After a couple of near slips, she managed to grab the phone firmly enough to answer it.

"Yes Sam, hello?" she said breathlessly.

Ulquiorra's sharp ears picked up the greeting from her cousin over the phone. They exchanged a few pleasantries before Orihime managed to steer the conversation to where she wanted.

"Sam, do you have my parents' current address?"

"What? Why?" his voice sounded tinny coming from the device.

"I …err… I needed to visit them. It's been a while you see," Orihime said feebly.

"Hime," the man sounded surprised, "You guys never ever talk!"

"Yeah, I know but … you know, I need to talk to them. It's sort of urgent," she persisted.

"Hime, are you alright? You're worrying me," he sounded genuinely concerned.

"I am perfectly fine Sam," she replied soothingly.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. So do you have it?" she queried.

"Have what?"

"Their address?" she asked biting her lips.

"Oh, no. No I don't have it."

"Thanks Sam," she disconnected the call before her cousin could respond.

"That's it!" she said with a huff as she dropped the phone on the table, "I am out of options now. They might as well have dropped out of the face of planet Earth."

"There is another option," Ulquiorra said speaking for the first time.

"Really? What is that?" Orihime asked absently.

"Grimmjow Jagerjaquez."

"What?" she replied incredulously, "Look, no offence to your fellow Espada, but how exactly can that lunatic help me find my parents when even my cousins don't know where they are?"

"If they are still alive, Grimmjow can find them. He's a brilliant tracker," Ulquiorra offered.

"Really?" Orihime looked sceptical, "I can't believe you are suggesting we take help from him."

"I'm merely suggesting what is practical," he countered.

Orihime protested "But … But there's no telling what he may do! He's completely off his rockers!"

"It's not a very pleasant option, I admit, but if you really want to find your parents, I think it's your only option," he shrugged.

Orihime bit her lip as she contemplated Ulquiorra's proposal. "Fine," she said after a while, "let's go and find him."

Saying so she reached out for the cell when Ulquiorra interjected, "Who are you calling?"

"Uryuu," she replied matter-of-factly, "he'll know where he is, won't he?"

"You don't need to. I know where he is."

* * *

><p>Grimmjow was lounging on his bed, dressed in black pyjamas. He had loud music playing in the background and he was singing along completely off-key and out-of-sync. The chime of the door-bell distracted him. He cocked his head slightly, grinned and said<p>

"Well, I'll be damned!"

* * *

><p>Orihime stood gaping. Ulquiorra had led her to the top-most floor of a sky-scraper in the most posh area of the town. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been this. In front of her stood the widely grinning blue-haired hollow dressed only in black pyjamas, proudly displaying his hollow hole situated in his abdomen. A long broad scar ran along his torso, vanishing into his hollow hole.<p>

"Look what the cat dragged in!" he chimed gleefully.

"We need to talk," Ulquiorra barged into his house without waiting for an invitation.

When she saw that Grimmjow wasn't objecting, Orihime placed a tentative foot forward. Instantly Grimmjow bowed, "Oh do feel free to come in your prettiness, I can't stop YOU."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked sharply.

"Oh you know, you being Ulquiorra's 'friend' and all," Grimmjow replied with a wink.

Orihime opened her mouth to answer but Ulquiorra beat her to it, "Let's cut to the chase, I … we need your help."

"Ulquiorra!" Grimmjow said dramatically, "Is that how you ask for help?"

"Knock off the dramatics trash," Ulquiorra reprimanded.

Surprisingly he said, "Knocked off. How can I help you?"

"What? Just like that!" Orihime was perplexed.

"Yes woman, just fucking like that. You got a problem with that?" Grimmjow turned to face her.

"N – No, I guess not," she answered hesitatingly.

"Good, let's get to business then," he clapped his hands and flopped down on the couch.

"Just one more question," Orihime interrupted.

With a raised eyebrow he asked, "Yup?"

"You live here?"

"Oh yes, it's fucking beautiful eh?" he winked, "I 'convinced' the manager to give me the penthouse."

"Convinced?" Orihime queried.

"You don't want to know," Ulquiorra replied.

"I guess not," Orihime agreed weakly, "So, let's get to business then. Grimmjow, I need you to track someone for me."

"No problem, I am game. However, I'm curious. Just who's the poor mother fucker I'm tracking?" Grimmjow looked at Ulquiorra.

"My parents. Why would you say that they are poor err you-know-whats?" Orihime finished uncomfortably.

"What? A chick of this day and age and you are squeamish about using swear words? Fucking priceless!" Grimmjow guffawed, "Man, you two are really a matched set!"

"Can we just concentrate on tracking them?" Ulquiorra sounded slightly perturbed, which in Ulquiorraism mean highly irritated.

"Ooh! Someone's pissed," Grimmjow said with flair, "Alright then! Gimme something that belonged to them or they touched."

Orihime nodded and dug into her purse. From it she withdrew a pen, "This was my dad's. He had given it to Sora. Think that'll work?"

"Should," he replied with a shrug.

As she watched, he transformed into his hollow form, "I still can't get over the fact that you can fucking see me like this."

Orihime nodded, "Yeah well, one thing at a time smurf."

"Smurf?" both the hollows echoed.

"Never mind!" she said waving a hand.

Grimmjow looked at her strangely, shrugged and then sniffed the pen a few times.

"Alright, there are few scents that are mixed here. One is obviously yours. One belongs to your brother I am guessing, since it's a dead scent," he looked for confirmation at Orihime who nodded with a solemn expression on her face.

"This third scent… I have smelled it before. It's driving me fucking nuts trying to figure out to whom or what this scent belongs to. We'll get back to that later. So there are two more scents in here. One is of the ink in this thing. So I am guessing one of these two scents belong to your father. But which one though?" He scratched his chin with his claw looking at the pen with a frown.

Suddenly, as if struck by a wild thought, he said, "Babe, can I have a whiff of your purse?"

She looked at Ulquiorra who nodded almost imperceptibly. Uncertainly Orihime handed her purse to Grimmjow who sniffed the outside and the inside of the purse a few times before grinning triumphantly, "That scent belongs to this!" He held aloft a Mars Bar.

If she'd been an anime character, Orihime would have sweat dropped. Grimmjow on the other hand looked ecstatic. Eyes closed, he kept sniffing the Mars Bar over and over again.

"Err, hate to interrupt your love-making with that bar of chocolate but we have a person to track here," Orihime said feeling mildly disturbed by the display.

Ulquiorra sat with his eyes closed as if wiping off the scene from his memory.

"Right," Grimmjow said, completely unfazed, "So your father, he's here in this town. "

"Really? That's great. Can you give me an address?" Orihime leaned forward eagerly.

"No can do!" he replied in a singsong voice, "You see, I am a Panther. I can smell people. I am not a GSM."

"GSM?" she was completely confused.

"Yeah, those things you humans use because you guys fucking suck with directions!"

"Oh! You mean GPS," she clarified.

"Whatever! Same shit, different name," he replied as he changed back into his human form.

"Not quite, but that's a conversation for later. As of now, we gotta find them," she said firmly.

"That's why you have me," Grimmjow said pointing at himself, "I'll take you to them. But …"

"I knew it," Ulquiorra spoke finally, "There's always a 'but'."

"You know me so well darling!" Grimmjow said with cloying sweetness.

Orihime felt slightly nauseous.

Ulquiorra's expression didn't change the slightest, "So what's the 'but'?"

"There's something interesting going on and I want in," he replied with a wide grin.

"What makes you say that?" Orihime asked a little too quickly.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Shinigamis are all over you. You can see Espadas in their true forms even though your reiatsu is nothing to write home about. Ulquiorra, I mean Ulquiorra Iceberg Schiffer is hovering around you. Kisuke Urahara has been around you for a while. Damn woman, that's an elite fanclub! I wanna gate-crash into this party."

"How do you know about Kisuke Urahara?" Orihime asked sharply.

"The man may have hidden his reiatsu, but he can't mask his smell!" Grimmjow answered gleefully.

"Fine," Ulquiorra said with a sigh, "You can join but one toe out of line, one mistake and I'll send you packing to Hueco Mundo."

"I am peeing my pyjamas," Grimmjow replied. Nonetheless he go up and walked into his bedroom singing a completely tuneless version of 'Eye of the Tiger'.

"What are you doing?" Orihime asked hysterically, "He's completely insane and you …"

"Relax," he answered, "He'll behave. This is exactly what he wanted all along. Now that he has it, you'll find him surprisingly co-operative and reliable."

Orihime gaped at him as though he'd lost his mind. Just as she was about to tell him as much, Grimmjow strode in wearing a pair of denims and a plaid shirt.

"Let's go baby, let's find those fuckers!" he intoned enthusiastically.

"Grimmjow, they are my parents. Could you perhaps show them a little more respect?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah, right, sorry," he didn't sound remotely apologetic.

* * *

><p>Almost a couple of hours later, Grimmjow led them to a small townhouse that was surrounded by a picket fence.<p>

"Are you sure …" Ulquiorra started to ask but Orihime interrupted him.

"This is it! See that garden gnome? That was mum's favourite. I'm sure we are at the right place."

Without waiting for either of them, Orihime strode straight in. She walked to the door and rang the bell. Presently the door was opened by a woman. Ulquiorra's sharp ears caught the woman's gasp.

"Orihime?" the woman breathed.

"Who's it Shizune?" a male voice came from inside.

The woman opened her mouth and shut it, unable to answer. Orihime narrowed her eyes at the woman and then raised her voice,

"It's the daughter you forgot you had Hideki Inoue!"

Almost instantly the man was at the doorstep, "How did you find us?"

"Does it matter?"

"Get out of my house!" Hideki thundered, "I don't want to see your face!"

He was about to slam the door on her face when two hands stopped it. Hideki Inoue found himself staring into a pair of emerald green eyes and a pair of sapphire blue ones.

"The woman's talking to you Jackass!" Grimmjow growled, "Doesn't hurt to be civil to your own kin, does it?"

"Who are _they_ Orihime?" Shizune asked sarcastically, "Your boyfriends?"

"What do you care?" Orihime snapped back.

"Get lost girl! You are not getting into my house!" Hideki said harshly.

"We'll see to it that she gets in," Ulquiorra's voice carried only a hint of threat but it was enough to make Hideki shiver slightly.

"Why should we welcome her in? She's the one that killed our son!" Shizune screamed.

"Sora died in an accident! When will the two of you accept that?" Orihime pleaded with choked voice.

"Sora didn't die in any car accident!" Shizune was in tears by now, "We know how he died! He died because of you, you filthy devil spawn! He was murdered right in front of our eyes!"


	14. Chapter 13

What is better than an update? An early update! This chapter literally wrote itself. So I decided, hey, why not publish it right away? This way I can get to writing Trust to Hope because it has finally reached the part I've been dying to write ever since I conceived the story. Angel & Demons too is entering an exciting phase. Now that this chapter provides some much needed info on our mysterious damsel, I'm excited to enter phase II of the story.

To my reviewers who have showed me loads of love till now, I'm very flattered. To be honest, this story has been better received than I expected. I'm really uncomfortable writing comedy so it sure comes as a surprise when people find some scenes hilarious. And now I'm rambling, so I'll shut-up.

Beta **Cerice Belle**

**Edit:** I'm such a dummkopf! I uploaded ch 13 of Trust to Hope instead of Angels & Demons. Thank FSM I saw it when I did otherwise I'd have received such confused reviews ROFLMFAO

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

"Mu - mu - murdered? " Orihime stammered, "No. No. No. The police told me he had a car accident. I clearly remember getting a call from the Police …"

Hideki Inoue scoffed, "Called? Since when do the Police 'call' to give the news of death of a loved one? They ALWAYS visit you to convey news like this. Really girl! I thought you were smarter than this."

Orihime had no answer to it. She had never really thought about that particular detail but now that she did, she realized that it was indeed strange to have received a call instead of a visit. After a minute of stunned silence, Orihime asked in a low voice,

"What happened?"

"We have no desire to relive the worst moment of our lives with you," Hideki snapped, "Get lost!"

"Please, father!" Orihime was in tears by now, "Just this once. Please!"

"Go away!" Hideki Inoue screamed.

Orihime appeared to crumple as she hid her face in her hands and sobbed. She was about to turn around when she felt a hand on her head. Startled she looked up to find Shizune staring at her with tears in her eyes. She had stepped out in the porch and was now looking at her daughter with unbearable sadness. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow shared a look and took a couple of steps back.

"Come in, child," she whispered slowly, "I think it's time you knew the whole truth."

"Shizune!" Hideki said warningly.

"Sora would have wanted it, Hideki! She deserves to know the truth," Orihime had never seen her mother look so broken.

"Shizune," Hideki's voice held a note of warning, "That girl has just brought destruction to our family! I don't understand …"

"Yes Hideki, you don't understand," she replied choking, "because you are not a mother.

"Fine! Do what you want! But that girl will not come in my house! Find someplace else to become a mother to this abomination!" saying so, Hideki slammed the door.

Shizune sighed and said, "Let's go somewhere else to talk."

"But Father … Won't he get mad at you?" Orihime said as she wiped her tears.

"Relax," Shizune replied calmly, "As long as I don't bring you anywhere close to him, he'll be fine."

"Thank you Mom," Orihime whispered.

"Don't be under any false impressions, Orihime." Shizune said with a sorrowful smile, "I haven't forgiven you for being the reason Sora died. Perhaps I never will. My mind says that I shouldn't be talking to you but my heart disagrees. I held you to my chest when you were less than two feet tall. I have stayed up all night, so that you could sleep. I have bathed you, fed you, and nurtured you. I am a mother, after all and mothers are not exactly known for rationality when their children are involved, are they?"

Orihime had nothing to say to it. Silently she wiped her tears and said, "I don't think a public place is a good place for the discussion we are about to have. Come to my apartment."

"My house is closer," Grimmjow spoke suddenly.

Orihime nodded. Soon the four of them were headed to Grimmjow's house, enveloped by an uncomfortable silence.

* * *

><p>In Grimmjow's apartment, Orihime sat next to Shizune, holding her mother's hand in her own. For the first time in a very long time, she desperately wanted to hug her mother and cry into her shoulders. But Shizune looked very pale, as if she was about to pass out. So despite her strong urge to curl into her mother's bosom, she held her mother's hand as a support. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow sat facing them. After a while, Shizune started speaking,<p>

"You came to us when Sora was twelve years old. I still remember it was raining heavily that night. The three of us were sitting in our house, playing, when someone knocked on our door loudly. I went to open the door, but there was no one there. I was about to close it when I spotted a small basket lying on the floor. Inside the basket I found you."

Orihime gasped, "Y – y – you mean you are not my mother?"

"Not biologically, no," Shizune said slowly, keeping her eyes fixed on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Orihime was unable to stop the tears.

"We had decided never to tell you," Shizune's voice shook slightly, "Had Sora been alive, I wouldn't have told you all this, but the circumstances of his death … I think you should know the whole truth."

"Who are my parents?"

"We don't know," Sizune replied, looking genuinely sorry, "all we know is, we got a letter that said that we should name you Orihime. We had been trying for a second child for quite some time but we failed. And then you came as God's gift. We were more than happy to welcome you into our family."

Orihime nodded, her tears falling uninhibited.

"But then, things started to happen when you were three years old. You started to talk about things you saw, you called them monsters. You even began drawing these grotesque things on paper. These things would almost invariably have a hole in their body."

From the corner of her eyes, Orihime noticed Grimmjow and Ulquiorra exchange a quick look. Shizune hadn't noticed anything. She continued undeterred,

"We had dismissed them as a child's fantasy, but then, when you were four and a half, something happened. One of these monsters materialized in front of our house and attacked us. It broke a couple of Hideki's ribs and my wrist. But we had managed to save the two of you. "

At this Orihime frowned and made a mental note of asking Ulquiorra how was it that their parents had seen a Hollow?

"When we were at the hospital, a man visited us. He told us that you were a very special child and that you could see things that normal humans could not. Hideki became very angry and had the man thrown out of the hospital room. Before he left, the man had thrown a business card into the room, claiming that we would need him soon. Unknown to us, Sora had kept the business card. "

Shizune paused to drink some water and then continued,

"We returned home and things had started to fall back to normal. But then, before long, you started seeing those monsters again. Once, when Sora was bringing you home from School, you both were attacked. Sora had almost died trying to protect you. That's when Hideki and I started to worry. We decided to send you to an orphanage. We didn't want to have anything to do with you."

Although it hurt her a lot, but Orihime understood what her mother was implying. She wasn't blood, so she would be cast aside if she endangered the family, even though it wasn't her fault. The injustice of it hurt, but she couldn't bring herself to feel angry about it. She nodded in understanding.

"Sora however, had other ideas. He refused to let us give you away. It was the cause of a major row between Hideki and Sora. Sora argued that he was going to move out of the house in year and a half and that he would take you off our hands. He begged for us to hold on till then. We agreed. The following months were hellish. There were multiple attacks on every family member. Hideki and Sora had bitter fights over you. Hideki wanted you gone but Sora wouldn't relent. Then, finally, Sora took you away. Later, we came to know that he had taken you to that man who had visited us at the hospital and that now the monsters wouldn't come to you."

Orihime bit her lips. She had a shrewd idea regarding the identity of this mysterious man.

"Sora kept in touch but kept you away from us and we were more than happy with the arrangements. You know, despite the fact that Sora ensured that you were like a normal child, we could never quite get over the fear we had. We kept trying to talk Sora into giving you up for adoption and live a normal life, but you were his life."

Orihime wiped the tears that were flowing and continued to listen in silence.

"Things weren't perfect, but we were moving on nonetheless. Then, Sora came to visit us one day. He had gone on a business trip for 14 days and had stopped by to talk to us before heading home. We had tea together. Then he started to leave," at this point, Shizune choked. It was a couple of minutes before she continued, "We were in the door way and he was in the porch, backing up his car. Suddenly this monster appeared out of nowhere. We hadn't seen a monster in a long time and then, all of a sudden, it was there. We were all so scared. Sora tried to stay hidden in the car but the monster had spotted him. It flipped Sora's car over and over. My poor baby didn't even have the chance to run. We couldn't do anything. We just watched helplessly as within a matter of seconds, the monster killed our child."

Shizune broke into sobs, unable to continue further. Orihime sat holding her mother's hands, as her face was soaked in tears of her own.

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><p>Later that evening, Orihime sat huddled on the couch of her house, staring off into space. Soon after telling her tale, Shizune had left. Grimmjow had tried to get Orihime to talk but she had maintained a stunned silence. Finally Ulquiorra had brought her home. On returning, she had plopped herself on the couch and had been sitting there ever since. Ulquiorra sat nearby in complete silence, giving her the much needed space. It was almost dusk before Orihime finally spoke.<p>

"How did my parents see a hollow?"

Ulquiorra was ready, "On some occasions humans can see hollows, even if they don't have a trace of reiatsu in them. It's not common but it has happened before. Usually they will see the lower hollows. These occurrences almost always happen when the said hollow is about to attack them."

Orihime nodded, "That man, the one Sora took me to, who do you think it is?"

"Kisuke Urahara," Ulquiorra replied instantly.

"That's what I thought as well," Orihime replied with a frown.

"So I assume you would want to get in touch with Urahara?" Ulquiorra suggested.

"Indeed I would, but not right now," Orihime's eyes were looking at something only she could see, "I need to do a few things before I meet him."

"Like what?"

Orihime drew her legs close to her chest, rested her chin on her knees and said, "Kisuke Urahara. It looks like the man has taken a lot of decisions for me, without my knowledge. He has meddled in my life more than anyone rightly should and that pisses me off something big. I mean, I've been living a big fat lie and at the core of it is this man whom I've never even met! I'm willing to bet anything that he's the one who put me on the Inoue's door step and he's the one who made that call, informing me about Sora's death. But enough is enough! I've been clueless for way too long, I want my answers now and I want them on my terms!"

"How do you plan to do that?"

"I need your help," she looked at him, "I need you to make me stronger. I cannot handle rise in reiatsu, I want you to train me to withstand it. As of now, any spiritual being can knock me down without any effort. When I face Kisuke Urahara, I want to be able to face him without collapsing."

Ulquiorra nodded, "That can be done."

"There is another thing I want from you," she said looking at him through her lashes.

"Why do I have the feeling I'm not going to like what you are about to ask?" Ulquiorra looked at her with a frown.

"You are probably right," Orihime bit her lower lip, "You said I increase my reiatsu when I meet a new spiritual being? I want you to introduce me to more spiritual beings."

Ulquiorra frowned, "Exactly how do you want me to do that?"

"Take me to Hueco Mundo."

"What?" Ulquiorra asked sharply, "You must be out of your mind to even suggest that."

Orihime tried to explain, "I know this is a crazy idea but really, I need to build my reiatsu …"

"I'll find another way to do it. That is unacceptable," Ulquiorra said curtly.

"But Ulquiorra, please listen …" Orihime persisted.

"I don't need to listen," Ulquiorra replied in clipped tones, "I'm not taking you there. The topic ends here."

Before she could insist further, Ulquiorra stood up, changed form and said, "I'll start your training from tomorrow. Get some rest."

She couldn't get another word edgewise as he walked over to the bedroom and flew out of the window.


	15. Chapter 14

This chapter is dedicated to a particular reviewer BelitLihara. This reviewer is not conversant in English and has been reading my story using a translator. The person had to use translator to write a review in a language the person is not at all comfortable with and that I think was incredibly sweet. I was so touched that someone actually took time to do something like that. So as a 'Thank you' to this reviewer, I bust my ass and finished this chapter ahead of schedule.

My Beta is unavailable at the moment so this chapter is unbeta'd. So, if you spot any errors, do let me know.

Early updates are always fun.

Oh and Big Bang Theory fans, have fun ;)

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><p><strong>Chapter 14<strong>

Ichigo Kurosaki lay face down on the bed in the guest room of the Yasutoras. Ichigo was staying with Sado and his grandfather, both of them firmly convinced that he was the son of a very dear friend of Sado's deceased father. They never even questioned the authenticity of their story but then Soul Society was very thorough with their work. Their memory dispensers almost always worked and if someone like Kisuke Urahara had something to do with it, then it was infallible. But the danger with that was, Urahara liked to add in his own irritating flair in the name of 'authenticity'.

So now, Yasutora Senior apparently distinctly remembered that as a child, Ichigo wouldn't sleep unless someone sang 'Soft Kitty' to him. Ichigo had been completely unaware of that particular detail until one day when the old man had asked him why he looked tired. To ward off uncomfortable questions regarding stalking a girl almost 24X7, he had come up with the best excuse that he could think of at that moment and blamed it on a sleepless night. Since then the old man had taken to putting him to bed sharp at 10'o clock in the night and insisted on singing "Soft Kitty" to him till he fell asleep. Nothing that Ichigo said would deter the doting grandfather and therefore Ichigo had taken to shutting his eyes tightly and pretending to be asleep. By now he was just shy of hearing the song for the hundredth time and could now hear those irritating lyrics along with the annoying tune. He just had to close his eyes and his mind would go:

_Soft kitty,_

_Warm kitty,_

_Little ball of fur._

_Happy kitty,_

_Sleepy kitty,_

_Purr purr purr. _

Thoroughly annoyed Ichigo pulled the pillow over his head and buried his face on the mattress. Not that it helped, the infuriating song was stuck in his head on auto replay causing Ichigo to spend his free time devising ways to kill Urahara as painfully as possible.

Because he had the pillow on his head and the person had masked his reiatsu, Ichigo was completely unaware that he had company. He was busy trying to tune the song out when suddenly, he heard a loud yell and felt a kick on his bottom. The next thing he knew was that he was lying on the floor, limbs splayed and face down. There was only one person in the universe that could do that to Ichigo Kurosaki.

"What the hell old man!" Ichigo screamed. He had pulled himself to a sitting position and was rubbing his nose.

"Ichigo! My Son!" Isshin Kurosaki threw out his arms as to envelop him in a bear hug. As he came closer, Ichigo nonchalantly punched him in the face.

"That's for kicking me unnecessarily," Ichigo said dryly as he stood up.

Isshin Kurosaki lay at his feet muttering dramatically, "Aah, my son. Brave and strong as ever!"

"Cut the bullshit dad," Ichigo said tiredly. He sat down on the bed, "Why are you here?"

"My beloved son, serious as always!" Isshin continued exaggeratedly, as he came to sit next to Ichigo "Your mother would be so proud."

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?" Ichigo asked through gritted teeth.

Suddenly serious he said, "To see if you have found yourself a girl-friend yet."

"No I have … What? That's none of your business!" Ichigo cursed himself for getting fooled by his serious demeanour.

"Tsk!" Ishhin shook his head sadly, "Son, I want you to know, if you like the other kind, I'm totally fine with it!"

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Ichigo yelled, "I'm straight alright? I like females! Gosh! And no, I don't like any female at the moment, human or Shinigami. Now either you tell me why you are here or I beat it out of you!"

Isshin held up his hands, "Alright, alright! Peace!" after a brief period of silence he said seriously, "I'm here to pay respect to someone."

Ichigo could've smacked himself. His father came to Karakura every year to pay homage to his brother. How could he have forgotten that?

"Sorry dad," he said seriously, "I completely forgot."

"It's alright son," Isshin smiled, "Once a Shinigami is on duty in the human world, they kind of find it hard to keep track of time. Everything moves so slowly here!"

"Yeah" Ichigo conceded, "It is a tad irritating how slow things get."

"Speaking of, how is your duty going?"

Ichigo sighed, "Don't ask! I've never been more frustrated with a job."

"Really?" Ishhin raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"There are two extremely powerful hollows roaming around Karakura and we are not allowed to do anything to them. Such are our orders. All we are supposed to do is keep an eye that the girl is not in any danger. I would have been fine with babysitting her if this stupid human had understood what kind of danger she's in. But no, this moronic woman chooses to live under the same roof as a Vasto Lorde!" Ichigo huffed.

"A Vasto Lorde?" Ishhin asked with a frown, "They are extremely rare. I'm amazed there's one about in Karakura. Does this girl know what this Vasto Lorde can do to her? You should explain to her what this hollow can do to her. Maybe she is unaware?"

"Oh she knows alright!" Ichigo said with a wave of his hand, "I have told her. Rukia told her. But she seems least concerned. "

Isshin rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "If there's a Vasto Lorde involved, I can understand why you are not allowed to do anything. It would be extremely unwise to attack a Vasto Lorde upfront. But you said two powerful Hollows, so what's with the second one?"

"That one is an Adjucas and he's irritating to the core. And guess what, this Adjucas appears interested in this woman and is now befriended a friend of this woman and consequently is hovering around her," Ichigo said with a frown.

"Why? What's so special about this woman?" Isshin queried.

"Well, she's a mysterious one, that's for sure. She can see us in our spiritual forms."

"So? Some humans have been known to do that," Isshin countered.

"Yes, but this one barely has a reiatsu," Ichigo replied.

"That's strange," Isshin frowned, "No wonder Urahara was so interested in this case. However I have to wonder, why did Urahara choose you and Rukia for this job?"

"I asked him the same thing," Ichigo said, "I mean after all we had hardly ever spoken before he came to our house insisting that I do this job for him. He had to have pulled some strings to get me and Rukia off of our regular duties and get us posted here."

"So, what did he say?" Isshin asked.

"You know Urahara. When has he ever given a straight answer? He tells me that if I stick to this job, I'll find something that'll be very precious to me," Ichigo said rolling his eyes.

Isshin continued to rub his chin thoughtfully, "And Rukia? Why was she requested? I can assure you Ukitake wasn't very pleased that his subordinate was taken away."

"Of course he wasn't pleased!" Ichigo answered, "I wouldn't be either! Anyhow, Rukia was apparently brought here because she's the only one who can and I'm quoting Urahara verbatim here, 'control my wild side', whatever that means!"

Isshin snickered, "Yes, Rukia does seem to have a strange hold on you, doesn't she?"

"Well," Ichigo replied, "she tells me what I need to hear, even if that's the unpleasant truth, so I don't mind listening to her."

"Yes, yes, sure," Isshin said in a placating tone, "whatever pleases you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo snapped.

"Nothing, nothing," Isshin said hastily, "So, tell me, why does the Vasto Lorde stay under the same roof as a human?"

"Who knows?" Ichigo shrugged exasperatedly, "This Vasto Lorde, he's a weird one. He had disappeared all of a sudden. I was really happy about it. I had thought that this was the perfect time for me to drum some sense into her head but this woman decided she needed to find this Vasto Lorde out. So she started to ask me round about questions about Soul Society and stuff. I played along as far as I could but then she started to ask about Urahara. I'm not supposed to talk about him to her, so I decided to show her what a real spiritual being can do to her without even trying. I'd hoped she'd get scared enough to back off and forget about the Vasto Lorde."

"I'm guessing that didn't work?"

"Bingo," Ichigo replied dully.

"Anyway Ichigo," Isshin said, "I just stopped by to say hello. I'll take your leave now. I have to visit your uncle's grave before I head back."

Ichigo nodded, "Give my best to Yuzu and Karin."

"Will do," Isshin replied cheerily before leaving.

Ichigo sighed. It was nice to have been able to unburden his frustration. It had the dual effect of relaxing him and getting that irritating song off of his mind. Sighing Ichigo lay down again and stretched. Rukia was keeping a watch on Orihime at the moment so he decided to catch up on some sleep. He closed his eyes and started humming. It was a few seconds before he realized, much to his chagrin, that he was humming "Soft Kitty."

* * *

><p>"Ready?" Ulquiorra asked.<p>

"Yup!" Orihime answered enthusiastically. Her living room had been drastically altered for the training. They had pushed the couch as far away as possible. The mattress from her bed was put on the floor. Orihime stood on the mattress with the hopes that it would cushion her fall. Ulquiorra stood some way off.

"I'll start by raising my reiatsu slowly. Since I'll be raising it slowly, you'll hear a ringing in your ears. We need to find out to what is the highest level of reiatsu that you can withstand before passing out. So, chances are you'll fall faint. Don't worry if that happens, it's perfectly normal. Any questions?"

"How long will I be out?" she asked

"Since it won't be a sudden spike, I would think fifteen minutes to an hour."

"OK," she replied firmly, "Let's do this!"

Ulquiorra nodded. Within seconds Orihime could hear a tinny ringing in her ears. It started as a faint noise that didn't bother her but slowly it began to rise in pitch. It wasn't unbearable but was definitely uncomfortable. It was a while before she noticed the chill that she normally associated with a rise in reiatsu. But it was still bearable. Her breathing was becoming faster, shallower but she could still stand her ground. The ringing was steadily rising and kept rising to the point that she started to cringe. She swayed slightly. The temperature continued to drop, breathing became even more difficult and before she knew it, everything in front of her was black.

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra caught her before she hit the mattress. He wasn't sure why he did it because the action had been pointless. She would have fallen on the mattress and it wouldn't have hurt her at all. He had reacted purely on instinct. Letting out an irritated huff, he gently lay her down on the mattress and covered her with a sheet. A strand of her auburn hair fell across her face. Without realizing what he was doing, Ulquiorra gently lifted the strand off her face.<p>

A large part of a hollow's nature was animalistic. The sense of smell played a very important role in their existence. He assumed it was the animal part of him that made him do what he did next. He bent down and deeply inhaled the scent of the strand. The flowery scent that he associated with the woman was the scent that he picked up. Unaware of the small smile playing on his lips, he tucked the strand behind her ear.

As he did so, his hand brushed against the blue hibiscus hair-pin that she wore always. To his intense surprise, the slight contact with that object has made his skin tingle. Perplexed he looked at his fingers and then at the hairpins. He had never felt something like this before and he wasn't sure how to react. Tentatively he reached out and touched the hairpin yet again. Once again his fingers tingled. The sensation was similar to the tingle he had experienced when he had accidentally touched a wire poking out of the cord of Orihime's coffee maker. She had explained, while taping the wire, that he had received an electric shock. This too was like an electric shock, but slightly different. If he didn't know better, he would have said that it felt _alive. _

Impossible! How could that be? They were hairpins, completely inanimate objects, how could they be alive? Orihime's overactive imagination must have rubbed off on him somehow. Shaking his head at the ridiculous thought, he started to get up when she called out a name, in obvious panic.

"Tsuruga!"

Almost instantly he was by her side, holding her hand. At his touch she seemed to calm down. Ulquiorra however was very confused. Who was Tsuruga? Why did he feel the need to hold her hand when she cried out that name? What was going on? Most importantly, why did he have the feeling that somewhere deep down, he knew the answers?

* * *

><p><em>The Miyagi and the Ishikawa mansions each housed families large enough to be a small clan. Therefore, Akazumi had faith that she could slip out for a couple of hours without her absence being noticed. But she couldn't go without a proper back-up plan and therefore she had roped in a cousin sister. It had taken quite a bit of cajoling on her part, but she had managed to convince her sister to handle things at their house while she was away.<em>

_On reaching the Cherry Blossom Glade, she saw him almost immediately. He was standing, with his back towards her, looking at the horizon. The Cherry Blossoms were in bloom and he was surrounded by softly raining petals. Unable to bear how fast her heart was beating, she hid herself behind a tree, willing her wayward heart to slow down. Finally, when the rhythm steadied, she walked out from behind the tree and found him standing in the same pose as he was sometime before. Taking a deep breath, she called out._

"_Tsuruga."_

_Instantly he turned to look at her, "You came!"_

"_You called me here," she replied, unable to meet his eyes._

"_I didn't think you would come," he said softly as he walked up to her. _

_She took a hasty step backward and said, "I came here to tell you to give up."_

"_What?" he asked with a frown._

_She took a deep breath and launched on the speech she had prepared, "Look, I'm flattered by your attention, truly. But the path that you are on, it is self-destructive. Our families have fought each other over generations. This feud goes back further than either you or I know. Just because no one has been killed in the past twelve-thirteen years doesn't mean that either family will refrain from going on a killing rampage. Please Tsuruga, forget about it."_

_Saying so, she turned to leave, forcing herself to stay stoic and not cry. She had barely take four steps when his voice said, _

"_What do you want me to forget?"_

_Turning slightly she said, "Everything. About me, about everything that happened between us."_

"_That would be almost impossible," he replied slowly._

_She whirled around, "Why? You hardly know me!" she insisted. _

_Before she could speak further, he pulled her arm roughly. She was about to protest when she realized that he had pulled her behind himself with one hand and had his sword out in the other. Peering from behind him, her eyes widened. Standing exactly where she had been moments ago was a massive hollow. The hollow was large and had multiple tentacles. _

"_Go, run!" he said urgently._

"_No!" she said firmly._

"_Akazumi, this is no time to argue," he snapped, "I can't both fight this thing and look out for you." _

"_If you think I'm going to leave you alone to face this thing you are mistaken," she snapped back. _

_He would have replied to her but the hollow apparently ran out of patience. It flipped one of its tentacles at the couple. However they were both prepared and jumped backwards. Without losing momentum, Tsuruga hacked at the tentacle and managed to cut it. The hollow yowled in pain and whipped at them again, only to have yet another tentacle cut off its body._

_The hollow was obviously not a very intelligent one because its attack pattern never varied. Tsuruga had already chopped four of the tentacles when the hollow whipped a fifth tentacle. He successfully cut the fifth one too but realized only too late that it had been a decoy. The sixth one had come from the side. The force of the attack flung him away. He hit the ground with a thud. He was covered in blood. _

"_Tsuruga!" Akazumi screamed in panic. The hollow started to advance towards Tsuruga who was lying on the ground too injured to move. Without a second's hesitation she spoke, "Koten Zanshun, I reject!"_

_A yellow light sped from her to the hollow, neatly piercing it into two. Before their eyes, the hollow disintegrated. She ran over to Tsuruga who was lying on the ground, staring at her with wide eyes._

"_Wh-what was that?" he asked weakly._

"_Shh, don't talk," she said, "you have lost a lot of blood. Lie still, I will heal you."_

_He lay absolutely still as she spoke softly, "Soten Kisshun, I reject!"_

_Before his startled eyes, he was enveloped in an orange glow and slowly all his pain ebbed away. When the light blinked away, he sat up and found that there wasn't a single scratch on his body. Akazumi sat next to him hands folded on her lap, eyes lowered to the ground._

"_What did you just do?" he asked in a stunned voice._

"_I … I have these powers. I don't really know why I have them, but I discovered them when I was a child," she continued to look at the ground, "One day, when I was playing in the garden alone, I heard a voice call me out. It kept asking if they could come. I agreed. Suddenly, six small fairies appeared in front of me. They said that they are my Shun-Shun Rikka. I didn't know what they meant. They claimed that they are a part of me, that my spirit created them. They showed me what I could do. "_

"_So, you can heal … no, this wasn't quite healing," he said thoughtfully, "you said 'I reject' and my body healed looking like there had never been any kind of injury. Almost as if you rejected my injury. When you killed the hollow, you rejected his existence. That's your power. You can reject an event, an occurrence."_

_She smiled bitterly as she nodded, "Yes. I know what you are going to say next. That such a power can only come from the devil and that I'm cursed and that you don't want anything to with me."_

"_Is that why you were asking me to forget everything?" he asked softly._

_Unable to speak, she nodded. To her intense surprise, he cupped her cheeks in his hands, "This isn't a power from the devil. This is a power of the Gods. And I can never call you cursed."_

_Tears flowed from her eyes as she looked at him, "When they found out, my brothers wanted me dead. They said such a power was not natural. And that …" she couldn't continue as sobs that she had held back for a long time broke her composure. Crumpling into his arms she cried her heart out. Wordlessly he held her close to his chest, slowly rocking her, letting her cry. When she had finished crying, she slowly pulled herself to face him._

"_You are not repelled? Not the slightest? How? Why?" she just couldn't understand._

"_Tell me," he asked "if it was the other way round and I was the one with the Shun Shun Rikka, would you have turned me away?" _

"_What? No! Why would I?" she asked scandalized._

"_You have your answer," he said with a small smile._

_Realizing what he meant, she smiled slightly, turning a very pleasing shade of pink. He leaned in and placed a gentle peck on her cheek. Blushing furiously, she burrowed into his chest, hearing him chuckle slightly. In response she punched him lightly. Happiness flooded her as his arms went around her enveloping her into an embrace._

"_Tsuruga?"_

"_Hmm?"_

"_Would you like to meet them?" she asked hopefully._

"_Who? Your spirits?" he was very surprised and flattered that she had offered something like this. _

"_Yes," she didn't look at him._

"_They are a part of you, why would I not want to meet them?" he sounded eager. _

_Unable to believe her luck, Akazumi summoned them and with a flash of light, six fairies appeared in front of Tsuruga's astonished eyes._

_Pointing at a small fairy that had a dress larger than its body she said, "This is Ayame."_

_The fairy shyly muttered a greeting which he returned._

"_This is Baigon," she said pointing at the large, bald fairy. The fairy waved at him cheerily and Tsuruga smiled back._

_The third fairy, whom she introduced as Shun'o greeted him heartily. _

_The black haired, masked, fourth fairy Tsubaki, warned him that if he ever made Akazumi cry, Tsuruga would have him to deal with, much to Akazumi's mortification. Tsuruga promised to take good care of her._

_The fifth fairy, Hanagiku, chittered a lot and Tsuruga wasn't quite sure what it said. _

_Finally Akazumi pointed at the sixth fairy and said, "That's Lily." The pink haired fairy actually flew up to him and touched his hand. Then with a small squeal, flew back to her comrades. Tsuruga couldn't help laughing. With another command Akazumi dispersed them._

"_So," she asked biting her lips, "what do you think?"_

"_I think they are delightful," he replied softly. _

_Without pausing to think, she leaned over and kissed his cheek. He was completely taken aback. Before he could recover, she shot up and ran away, leaving him sitting in the glade with pink petals raining down on him._

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><p>AN: I think this chapter had it all. Comedy, drama, romance, action, mystery. All it lacks are your reviews ;p


	16. Chapter 15

This chapter is a short one but I think it will make a lot of you very happy. Won't say anything more. XD

As some of you may know an Ulquihime high-school fic has been roaming around in my mind. I've finalized the plot and some of it is already written. So keep an eye out for **Loved you Twice Over** as it's coming soon. I'm pasting a brief summary here for the sake of shameless promotion ;p

**In High-school Ulquiorra and Orihime were complete strangers, turned best friends who secretly loved each other. But circumstances were such that they lost touch. Now, 10 years later, pure chance brings them together and old sparks are rekindled. Ulquihime. AU. Partly a high-school fic.**

As usual, R&R.

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

When Orihime awoke, she found Ulquiorra sitting on the couch, looking thoughtful. Thankfully, she only had a very mild headache and it didn't bother her too much. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she thought back to the dream she had. There had been a hollow attack in her dream, which weakened her theory of dreaming about some historical romance novel. The other thing that she had begun to observe was how attuned she felt to Akazumi's emotions. Tsuruga's unquestioning acceptance had left her overjoyed. She was barely pulling herself together when Ulquiorra spoke,

"Who is Tsuruga?"

"No idea," she replied massaging her temples, "I keep dreaming about this young couple. They dress like people from a historical romance novel. I also saw a hollow attacking them and this girl basically kicking the hollow's butt with this super-cool laser beam that she fired somehow," unintentionally she had started to become excited, "she even had this awesome command that she used to fire this laser beam. Gosh you should have seen it, it was so cool! It was like one of those scenes from an anime where the heroine has these super-powers …"

"Woman," Ulquiorra interrupted, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Orihime snickered slightly, "Sorry. I get excited while talking about anime. I was a big anime fan till not so long ago."

After messaging her temples again she said, "One thing strikes me as odd though."

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow.

"I think I see these dreams only after I'm knocked out by reiatsu. The first time I saw it was when I was knocked out by Ichigo. Second time after you were arrested and then again now. I've never seen them when I'm sleeping just like that. Think that means something?"

Ulquiorra shook his head, "No idea. Maybe it's just your overactive imagination? "

"Could be," Orihime answered.

Ulquiorra leaned back on the couch lost in his thoughts. He was vaguely aware of Orihime getting up from the mattress and walking over to the bathroom. His mind was stuck on what had happened when Orihime was unconscious. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew who Tsuruga was and that he knew him rather well. But it wasn't making any sense! He was fairly sure he didn't know anyone by that name, so why had he felt the need to respond to the name? More importantly, why was Oihime dreaming about this person? Did she have some kind of connection to this person? Then there were the hair-clips. He didn't know what to think of those. Just what was going on here? Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Orihime get out of the bathroom and walk into the kitchen.

"Ulquiorra!" she called from the kitchen, "I'm making dinner you want something?"

Ulquiorra was so pre-occupied that he had no idea what she'd just said. All he knew was that she'd called him. So he got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen.

Orihime asked again, "Ulquiorrra, you want something?"

"Hmm," he answered absently. He leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms. He watched her intently as she moved about in the kitchen, throwing the dinner together. His eyes followed her movements carefully. The woman kept getting more and more intriguing by the day. Added to that was the fact that he with every passing day, his desire for her kept increasing. It was getting increasingly tough for him to keep his distance. He had begun to lust for everything about her.

"Pass the sugar, will you?" Orihime interrupted his train of thoughts.

Picking up the jar from the counter, he gave it to her. She turned to grasp it but before she could, he let go of it. Two pairs of eyes followed the jar as it fell on the floor with a crash and was broken into smithereens. A complete silence ensued as the two of them stared at the jar and then at each other.

"I'm sorry, I'll clean it up," Ulquiorra said unable to believe that he'd been so distracted. Without any further words, he sat down and started to pick up the big shards of glass. Orihime crouched next to him and started to help him. At one point, both of them grabbed the same piece of glass. Without thinking, Orihime tugged at the glass. Ulquiorra jerked. The glass had gouged a deep cut into three of his fingers.

"Oh shit!" Orihime dropped the glass pieces, "I'm so sorry! I …," she stopped, her eyes widening.

Blood was dripping from his fingers and on to the floor. Instantly her face went pale,

"Oh my God! Your hand! It's bleeding! Oh God! This is bad!"

"Woman," he intoned trying to interrupt her frantic muttering but it was of no effect, she continued undeterred.

"Ulquiorra, I'm so sorry! Oh God, I never… Shit! What do I do?"

"Woman!" his voice was sterner, but again it had no effect.

"I didn't know what I was doing! God I … it's bleeding so much!"

"ORIHIME!" he thundered, finally catching her attention, "I'm alright. Look."

As she watched, Ulquiorra used a tissue to wipe out the blood. In front of her amazed eyes the skin of his fingers come together and healed.

"Wh – What?" she asked perplexed.

"I have very high regenerative powers," he said, "But why were you so upset?"

"I – I don't like blood," her face was still pale, her breathing still rapid, "I - I'm slightly Haemophobic."

"I see."

He was about to get back to cleaning the glass when suddenly a pair of arms went around him.

"I was so scared," she muttered into the crook of his neck.

A small shudder ran down Ulquiorra's spine as she moved close to him. Unable to stop himself he put his arms around her.

"Relax," he murmured into her hair, "I'm fine."

The jar of sugar forgotten, the two of them sat on the floor of the kitchen locked in an embrace. All of her excuses and reason fled her as she rested against the firm chest. Her eyes fluttered close as she inhaled the cold, clean smell that she had come to associate with him. One of his hands was at her hip and the other was slowly moving upwards, causing small jolts of electricity run through her body. Shivering slightly she moved closer to him. She felt him shift slightly and then a fleeting kiss alighted on her forehead. A small fire was burning deep inside her somewhere as she tilted her head allowing him to do whatever he pleased. Following her lead, he slowly traced her face with his lips.

His lips were everywhere, her forehead, her brows, her eyelids, her nose, and her cheeks, igniting parts of her being she didn't know existed. She wasn't sure who uttered the soft moan that she'd just heard and she didn't care. None of the romance novels that she'd read till now quite summed up the feeling that was building up in her. Slowly he cupped her face in his hands and then lowered his lips on to hers.

If she'd been overwhelmed earlier, she didn't have enough words in her vocabulary to describe what she was feeling now. Wave after wave of inexplicable emotions washed over her as he deepened the kiss. She was unable to perform even the basic function of sitting and had he not been supporting her, she'd have sunk on to the ground in a heap. Clutching the front of his shirt Orihime opened up to him like a flower in fresh bloom.

His tongue begged entrance and she allowed him. His hand slid down her throat and settled on her shoulder. The other hand went around her nape to balance her head as he gently stroked the inside of her moist lips. Orihime responded, stroking his tongue gently with her own. She felt him shudder as the hand on her shoulder slipped to her waist and pulled her closer.

A sudden loud and incessant mechanical beep jolted them to their senses. The two of them shot out of each other's arms. Orihime scooted as far away from him as the kitchen would allow. The two of them stared at each other aghast. The loud beep continued resolutely but her brain had turned into complete mush and it took her a while to realize that it was the fire alarm. That sprung her into action. She leapt up, her face flushing and realized that the fruits and cheese-sauce that she had been working on was burned beyond recognition. Taking care not to meet Ulquiorra's eyes, she shut down the stove, took the pan and ran over to the sink to put it under running water.

Ulquiorra shook his head, got up from the floor and walked over to the annoyingly beeping fire alarm. He picked up a magazine and started waving in front of the fire alarm as Orihime had shown him once. Almost instantly the fire alarm stopped beeping. Once he was satisfied, he put down the magazine and walked into the kitchen.

"Orihime," he said softly.

She stood facing the sink, clutching the counter so tightly that her knuckles were white.

"Orihime, I … I'm sorry, I had a lapse of judgement. I promise something like this won't …"

"Ulquiorra," Orihime interrupted with her back still at him, "What happened was an accident. Can we just forget about it?"

Ulquiorra nodded. Silently he crouched down and cleared the sugar and pieces of glass from the floor. The entire time Orihime stood resolutely facing away from him. Once he was done, he walked away from the kitchen, changed and was out of the window.

As soon as Orihime heard the flap of his wings she sighed in relief. Why did it have to come to this? All this while she had known that her feelings for Ulquiorra ran deeper than mere friendship but now she realized that he meant a lot to her, much more than she had initially thought. Up until now she had successfully pushed her feelings deep inside her but now she was forced to face them. She turned on the faucet and splashed a handful of water on her face.


	17. Author's note

I'm so hopelessly blocked I can't write it at all. I somehow wrote 1300 odd words but I hate it cause its PURE DRIVEL. So, no updates this weekend. I'll update when I can churn out something good.

Everything remaining same, Loved you Twice Over and Trust To Hope will be updated on schedule.

PS: wouldn't it be great if ffnet had a journal feature like DA? That way I don't have to update an author's note like a chapter every time I'm unable to update a certain fic.


	18. Chapter 16

I'm back! After a horrendous block I'm FINALLY back. Sorry about that people! Just so you all know, I've started a forum that gives you status about updates. The link is on my profile, do visit.

Also I'll be away visiting family from the 18th to the 25th, so no updates during that time.

I can't believe that I missed the shoutout when I reached 100 reviews. So here it is, on reaching 150+

Cerice Belle, Setsuka510, Shadowcat 8511, Gorguts5, RinSessysGirl, The EnnocentOne, nypsy, Ichiruki27,luna, AkuRokuTurkTrainee, Elisa Von, V, Lilarin, crono, metsfan101, Hengenjizai, Tek9cb, Ulquihime7980, blue87, TheCatWithTheHat, Eva-Saiyajin, Amber, Lovely Rain Dancer, LunaMoonSinger, Rukianoshirayuki, Mana, Zigra, otakunurse, guest, shadowcat8511, BelitLihara, PurpleNinja09, Hazama Chan, Spirit of the Damned, theDivinity, Tropic Cola, NeEkoO-cHaN, VastoLorde015, Icefrosty, shadowwolf, tweetymug, xBlazeXXBlissx, Guest2, IchiRuki27, RAHBooks, cherryvampiress, 123lamiko, Guest3, Almathia, Darisy, randomfan17, Ati-Cha, Guest3, fairyarah

Beta: Cerice Belle

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

Chiropteran wings flapped noiselessly as the demon flew across the sky, invisible to the humans below. He was a Hollow; a demon; he was a being who hadn't been a human in centuries. Why then were these _human_ emotions welling up inside him? He wasn't meant to feel anything. He was an Espada, the unquestioned overlords of Hueco Mundo and a Vasto Lorde at that! It was embarrassing to think that a mere human was proving to be his undoing? How pathetic!

Even his very form was the embodiment of true despair. He had always believed that happiness was when one had nothing. Life, death, emotions, all of it was meaningless and it was futile to search for any meaning to existence for there was none. Nihilism had governed his life for centuries, yet one mere human had turned it all on its head. After centuries of feeling nothing, one human had brought forth a myriad of emotions and feelings within him, leaving him completely flummoxed. How could someone as venerated and powerful as him possibly become as entranced with a mere human as he had? It was inexplicable and completely inexcusable.

He knew he should put a stop to whatever it was that was going on, but he felt completely powerless. It was as if he was a small pebble and she was a river, taking him along. What was worse was that for some unfathomable reason he actually liked it. He was exasperated with himself. What was wrong with him? What had prompted him to kiss the woman?

Grudgingly he admitted to himself that Grimmjow had been right. It would appear that he had indeed chosen a mate. Only why did it have to be a human? He had been alone all this while, so why, after so long, when he finally found someone, did it have to be a human who couldn't even withstand his reiatsu?

He clicked with annoyance, as he flew higher away from the town.

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><p>Orihime walked out of the kitchen in a daze. What had just happened? After restraining herself for so long, how had she allowed herself to get lost in his magic? Yes, it was magic, because no other word could really summarise the feeling that had, and was still, coursing through her veins. Smiling ruefully to herself Orihime admitted something that she had known for a while but had been too scared to acknowledge: she had fallen in love with her Hollow roommate.<p>

Suddenly exhausted, she walked over to the mattress still on the floor and flopped down on it with a sigh. Of all the things she could have done, she had fallen for the one person she should have stayed miles away from. She was fairly certain that a union between them was nigh impossible. There were far too many differences between them; she was a Human, he was a Hollow. She was alive and he had been dead for who knew how long. She was the embodiment of human emotions and he was the anti-thesis of them. They were complete opposites of each other in every aspect and yet, Orihime found herself incalculably drawn to him.

Having admitted the truth to herself, she felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her chest. She knew that her love was forbidden. She knew that she could pine endlessly for him but that would change nothing. He was dead, literally. Nothing could change the fact that he was incapable of feeling anything. She did not want to put too much stock by the kiss; it was as he said 'a momentary lapse of judgement'. He was after all a male, maybe some primal urge from the time he was a human had still remained in him and that's what made him react the way he did. That's all there was to it. It would be foolish of her to read too much into it.

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><p>She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she was aware of was that someone was calling her name, softly. Startled she sat up on the mattress to find herself surrounded by pitch black darkness. Confused she stood up. Since the arrangement of the living room had been changed for the training, the darkness completely disoriented her.<p>

She stretched her hands out and started to try to feel her way to the light switch, fairly sure that she had had them on when she had laid down on the mattress. She had barely taken a few steps when she heard the soft voice call out her name yet again. One thing she was fairly sure of was that it wasn't Ulquiorra's voice that she was hearing. Heart hammering in her chest, she whirled around her breath coming in short gasps.

"Who's there?" she called out, the fear apparent in her voice.

"Orihime, it's me," the voice answered.

The voice was incredibly familiar but Orihime was certain it couldn't be who she thought it was. "Who's there?" she repeated her question, her voice quivering slightly.

A figure slowly came into focus and although the room was still dark, Orihime could clearly see who was standing in front of her dazed eyes. A few feet away from her stood a smiling Sora, looking exactly like he had when he was alive, only he seemed to be illuminated from within. She couldn't believe that just three months ago, she had seen him thrashing around in pain, driven almost mad with rage.

"S-Sora!" she breathed, "How?"

"How? I don't know," he replied, his smile intact, "All I know is my pain is gone. I am free, I can breathe again."

Orihime's hand flew to her mouth as she choked slightly.

His smile faltered slightly as he continued, "I'm so sorry for attacking you Hime. I wasn't myself when…"

"Sora," she interrupted, "Please don't say sorry, if anything, I'm the one who should ask for forgiveness. You were the one in pain and I was causing it. I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"I came here to say goodbye Hime, I'm finally free to go," he looked completely at peace.

"I'm so glad you can go now," she said with tears flowing down her eyes unchecked.

"I was free for a while now actually," Sora replied, "I just couldn't come in front of you with that Vasto Lorde around."

Orihime was wondering when he would bring Ulquiorra up, "About that …"

Sora interrupted, "I don't mind Orihime, if that's what you're worried about. Seeing how he protects you, I feel at ease."

Orihime nodded, wiping the tears off her face, "Who was the man who visited us at the hospital? Was it Kisuke Urahara?"

Sora nodded, "It was. I took you to him when you were six years old, I don't know what he did but you had stopped seeing hollows. They did not attack us anymore."

"Do … do you think I was the reason that Hollow attacked you?" Orihime asked tentatively.

"No Hime," he replied with a smile, "That Hollow would have been there regardless of whether you came in our lives or not. I don't blame you for something that was beyond your control."

Unable to control herself, she broke into sobs. She walked up to him and tried to hug him but her arms went right through him.

"I'm a ghost," he replied sadly, "I'm about to fade away from the World of Living, I no longer hold a corporeal body."

Orihime didn't know what to say.

"It's time Hime," he said, "Live a full life, stay happy."

In front of Orihime's tear filled eyes, Sora slowly dissipated away to nothing.

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><p>The next evening Ulquiorra and Orihime stood in their respective positions to resume training. She had refrained from saying anything about Sora's visit to Ulquiorra. If he detected his reiatsu in the house, he didn't comment. In fact the two of them had hardly spoken a word beyond what was necessary.<p>

"Ready?" Ulquiorra asked.

Orihime nodded. Almost instantly she felt the ringing in her ears. Like last time it started as a tinny ringing that steadily went up. She also felt the drop in the temperature that she had come to expect. Within minutes she felt the familiar sensation of weightlessness and before she knew it, she was knocked out.

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><p><em>Akazumi reached the Cherry Blossom Glade and to her surprise Tsuruga wasn't there. He had sent a message through one of her friends that he would meet her here today. She frowned and got the note out from folds of her cloth and reread it, just to be sure if she'd gotten the day and time right. Assured that she wasn't mistaken, Akazumi decided to wait. She walked over to a tree and sat down beneath it, fingering the carpet of soft pink petals that lay on the ground. She had spent the last five days torn between intense exhilaration and doubt. At one moment she would be overjoyed that the love of her life had accepted her and her unnatural powers unquestioningly but in the next instant she would second guess herself. Maybe he was giddy from all the blood loss; maybe, having had the time to reconsider, he saw her powers as unholy and would now shun her, like everyone else who knew about it did.<em>

_As she watched the Sun make its way further towards the horizon, Akazumi bit her lower lip uncertainly. _

"_I believe that is my job," a soft voice whispered in her ears causing her to yelp and jump with a start. _

_She turned around to find Tsuruga sitting very close to her, his head thrown back in laughter._

"_You!" she scowled, "You scared me!"_

"_I… I am sorry," he said laughing as he held up a hand, "you were sitting there, looking so lost in your thoughts, I just had to do it. You didn't even hear me call out your name."_

_Despite herself, she felt her lips split into a smile and slowly it built into a laugh. His laughter was infectious. As her laughter died, she noticed that he was looking at her with a small smile on his lips. _

"_What?" she asked grinning._

"_You reminded me of the time I first saw you," he said as he threaded one strand of her hair in his fingers._

_She frowned, "At the hedge?"_

_He smiled, "You think that's when I first saw you?"_

_Mutely she nodded, a confused frown gracing her face. _

"_No my dearest," he said pulling her gently into his arms, "I saw you when you were but a child of ten or eleven. You were playing by the lake with your cousins. Your hair wasn't this long back then, and you were thinner too. But I was enamoured. Your laugh drew me in. It still does."_

_Akazumi was staring at him wide eyed, "But that… that would be six or seven years ago!"_

"_Seven years," he replied as he sat leaning against the tree. Akazumi sat between his legs, her back resting on his chest, his arms circled around her. _

"_Oh dear," she whispered, "That's … that's a long time! But you couldn't have been much older then?"_

"_I wasn't," he agreed, "I was about fourteen, but I was old enough to know what I wanted."_

_Akazumi blushed and smiled softly. Behind her, Tsuruga sighed._

"_You'll be the death of me, beautiful one," he murmured into her hair. _

_The two sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. After a while Akazumi remembered something Tsuruga had said earlier._

_She turned around to face him and asked, "Ummm, what did you mean when you said 'I believe that is my job'?"_

_His beautiful green eyes danced with mirth as he said, "You don't know?"_

_She shook her head innocently._

_With a smirk he said, "Then let me show you."_

_He cupped her face with his hands and brought his face close. Akazumi looked on in mesmerized wonder as he gently captured her lips with his own. Unbeknownst to her, her eyelids drifted shut. She was completely enchanted by the new wave of feelings coursing through her, as his lips teased hers. He took her lower lip and bit on it lightly, causing her to shiver with sheer pleasure. His hands moved from her face to her waist as he drew her closer to him, having her body pressed firmly against his. The action made her head tilt back a bit and her mouth opened. Tsuruga's tongue was on her lips, tracing them and then slowly, it was in her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him as she tentatively touched his tongue with her own. The reaction was instant, his arms tightened around her and she felt an answering shiver run down his body. _

_He pulled back, breathing heavily and lay his head on her shoulder. She held him tightly as she calmed her own breathing. She had never even imagined something so wonderful could exist. It was as if she had tasted the very nectar of Gods and found that a mere sip had made her an addict. She yearned for more. However convinced she was that too much of a good thing could be harmful, but she couldn't bring herself to care about it. Tsuruga was the blessing of her life and he made her happier than she had ever been._

_Slowly he raised his head and looked at her but gone was the familiar face. In its place was a pale face with thick black eyebrows. Emotionless and unfathomable emerald eyes stared back at her. A straight, thin nose and a small mouth completed a face which was encased in jet black hair. However, most striking of all were the cyan lines running from below his eyes down to his jawline._

Orihime's eyes shot open as the realization hit her – Tsuruga became Ulquiorra.


	19. Chapter 17

ERMEHGAWD! It has been 2 months since I last updated this! Really really sorry about this. You see I hit a horrible block with this story. Then my personal life went into a total tizzy and I could barely focus. So I neglected writing this and Trust to Hope. Anyhow, my problems have been resolved and so I'm back. Also, it just so happens that tomorrow, i.e. the 7th, is my birthday. So as a birthday gift to myself (and my readers), I'm doing a double update. One chapter of Angels and Demons and one chapter of Loved you Twice Over. Expect an update of Trust to Hope by next Sunday.

This chapter has not been beta'd.

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

"Santen Kesshun, I reject!"

For a few moments, nothing happened and Orihime heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she had seen Ulquiorra just because he was on her mind. That had to be it. If he wasn't Tsuruga, she couldn't possibly be Akazumi. She was just being nervous and seeing connections where there were none. She was being paranoid is all. Just as she was about to relax, she heard a small whirring.

Seemingly from nowhere, a bright orange glow appeared in front of her and began to expand. It formed a small, transparent triangular shield and stayed there for a moment before disintegrating. As Orihime looked on, aghast, the three points of the shield turned into three miniature human-like beings with wings. One of them made a strange signal and three more fairies appeared in front of Orihime. Eyes wide and disbelieving, she slumped down on the floor, suddenly feeling completely exhausted. Curiously she found herself thanking her lucky stars that Ulquiorra wasn't in the apartment. It would have been tough to explain this.

The bald one spoke first, "Hello Orihime, I'm Baigon. You know who we are," it wasn't a question.

Slowly she nodded, "Th- the Shun Shun Rikka," she whispered slowly.

The masked one tsked irritably, "No woman! Not _the _Shun Shun Rikka, but _your_ Shun Shun Rikka. We're a part of you. Not a difficult concept to understand, is it?"

"Tsubaki," the pink haired fairy squeaked, "You're being rude. Orihime is seeing us after a very long time, she needs time to understand."

"Understand what exactly?" Orihime asked, a little afraid to know the answer.

The fairy with a top-knot spoke up, "I'm Shun'o. What Lily means is, you have to understand who we are and what exactly Shun Shun Rikka is."

Orihime intertwined her fingers to stop her hands from shaking as she asked in a shaky voice, "Please explain. And what does Lily mean after a very long time, when did I last see you?"

Shun'o answered again, "You know what happens after a human dies."

"The soul either goes to Soul Society or becomes a Hollow and is dragged to Hueco Mundo," she answered automatically.

"Correct," Baigon replied, settling down on her knee, "Do you know what happens to a Shinigami when he dies?"

Orihime shook her head, "Ichigo didn't know."

Tsubaki snorted, "The things Ichigo Kurosaki doesn't know could fill an entire book."

"Tsubaki!" the fairy with the dress bigger than her reprimanded. She perched next to Baigon and said, "I'm Ayame. Much like humans, their souls also go into the Soul Society. Only there is a slight difference. To explain that difference, you need to understand what a Zanapakuto is."

The last fairy, the one with the eye-patch spoke next, "I'm Hanagiku. A Zanapakuto is essentially a vessel for a Shinigami's power. It is a physical manifestation of the strength and power residing within the Shinigami's soul."

"When the Shinigami dies," Shun'o continued, settling down on her shoulder, "their Zanapakuto dissipates and the power returns to the soul. When that soul is reborn, their power is carried over and the Shinigami will eventually reform their Zanapakuto in their new life. The Shinigami has to find, learn, train and temper their Zanapakutos in every life. The physical embodiment of the power will vary from lifetime to lifetime, depending on the personality and environment of the reincarnation."

"What does all of this have to do with me?" she asked perplexed.

"Your Shun Shun Rikka," Lily answered, "is a manifestation of the power residing within your soul. In a way, we are your Zanapakuto. In this life, we're housed in your hairpin."

"What?" Orihime was stunned, "But I'm just a human! How can I have a Zanapakuto?"

"You don't really believe that now, do you?" Tsubaki asked. By now all the fairies had settled down on her.

"What do you mean?"

"You can see Shinigamis and Hollows in their spiritual forms, can ordinary humans do that?" Tsubaki asked.

"I … I figured I could see Ulquiorra because he's Tsuruga and I was Akazumi," she whispered.

"Yes, that would certainly explain why you could see him," Baigon answered, "But does that explain the rest? You can see Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki and Grimmjow Jagerjaquez. How do you think that happened?"

Orihime was stumped. She hadn't thought of that.

"A normal human, who possesses a slightly higher reiatsu, can see only certain types of Hollows," Hanagiku said, "Not all of them and certainly not an Adjucas or a Vasto Lorde."

"How do you know I can see all of them?" Orihime asked, her mind feeling sluggish.

"We're a part of you Orihime, whatever you know, we know," Lily replied kindly.

"But you seem to know more than I know," she answered, "You know about what happens to a Shinigami after his death."

"We know it because deep down you know it," Lily elaborated, "Understand Orihime, you're essentially talking to yourself. We're merely a manifestation of your soul."

Orihime grasped her throbbing head, "All this is too much. I can't absorb all of this now. Please, can we talk later?"

"We're here for you, you just need to call us," Ayame said as each of them dispersed.

* * *

><p>Ulquiorra stood at the foot of Orihime's bed, looking at her unconscious form with a frown. Twelve days ago, when he had returned from his nightly sojourn, he had immediately noticed a couple of things amiss. First off, was the woman's reiatsu. For no apparent reason, her reiatsu had spiked significantly. While he had seen her reiatsu rising on several occasions prior to this, it had never been as significant as it was this time. It was almost as if some sort of a dam had broken and the reiatsu had flooded her being. The other thing that was strange was her behaviour. She seemed, for the lack of a better word, lost. Several times Ulquiorra had caught her staring off into space, chewing her lower lip. She appeared forgetful and would do things that were odd, even by her standards. Regularly he would find her keeping things where they didn't belong, like the one time when she had kept her keys into the kitchen sink or when she'd almost put her TV remote in the toilet bowl. Multiple times he had spotted her reading a book upside down and once he'd even caught her spreading shoe shine on her toast.<p>

It was then that Ulquiorra intervened. He called her out on her weird behaviour, asking her point blank, what was it that had bothered her so. She had given him some long winded and convoluted story that even Ulquiorra knew was complete rubbish but he had let it pass. Clearly the woman wasn't in a frame of mind to share and he wasn't one to pry. Added to the strange mix was the fact that he couldn't sense the woman's brother's soul around her. He had sensed traces of his reiatsu in the house but it was residual. The soul itself was gone. Although the soul had left on the day prior to the sudden surge in the woman's reiatsu but Ulquiorra couldn't shake off the feeling that somehow it was all connected.

And then, this evening, she had approached him and had, out of the blue, asked him to resume her training. Needless to say, he was quite surprised but then he was adept at keeping his emotions in check. Therefore, without giving her any indication of his astonishment, he had agreed. Unsurprisingly, she withstood his reiatsu longer than ever before, however eventually she was knocked out. The mattress cushioned her fall and thus she now lay on it, apparently seeing the dream that she said she saw when knocked out by reiatsu.

Ulquiorra wondered where her Shinigami babysitters were. They ought to have sensed the spike in her reiatsu. They also should've sensed the on-going training sessions. So why hadn't the obnoxious, orange-haired, arrogant and fool of a Shinigami barged in through her doors? Why was that smart, calculating and tiny black-haired female Shinigami holding back? What exactly was Soul Society playing at? What was going on?

* * *

><p><em>A soft knock on the door roused Akazumi from her sleep. She sprang out of her bed, wondering when she had fallen asleep. She had known he was going to meet her at her room tonight; perhaps she had drifted off while waiting. She opened the door of her veranda and let him in. The two lovers were swept in each other's embrace as soon as the doors were closed. They had been meeting each other secretly, at irregular intervals. His unconditional love was Akazumi's most precious treasure.<em>

_Some days ago, she had spotted a book made of leaves in one of her aunt's rooms. Curious she had picked it up and seen through the first few pages. The book contained some elaborate texts and some extremely graphic sketches that had made her blush. Her aunt had walked in on her, while she had been stealing a look. Akazumi had been mortified and had tried to explain but the older woman had simply laughed._

"_Take it with you, Zumi," the woman had said, "After all, all women should know how to please a man. You'll be married too someday."_

_Disbelief overshadowed embarrassment as she held up the delicate thing up, "This will please a man?"_

"_Inordinately," the woman had said with a gleam in her eyes, "If things go well, you'll enjoy it too, but don't count on it. Don't tell anyone that I gave it to you."_

_Akazumi had devoured the book. The book promised many things. So many that she didn't think it was saying the truth. How could something that looked as uncomfortable as it did, give such joy? According to the book, this was a very intimate process and that only lovers or married people partook in it. While she wasn't convinced by what the book said, she was nevertheless willing to try it out. Afterall, she was willing to go to any lengths to please Tsuruga._

_Now as she stood in his arms, her heart thudded wildly as she encouraged herself mentally to take the first step. Finally, her confidence bolstered, she arched back, her body flush against his and kissed him on his lips. She heard him inhale sharply as he responded. His one hand went to her lower back and the other went to her nape. Akazumi trailed her tongue along his lips fleetingly, teasing him, tormenting him but never quite giving him what he wanted, just as the book said. She could sense his eagerness as he tried to deepen the kiss but she withdrew. She dropped her head down and started to kiss his neck, biting him gently every now and then. She sensed acceleration of his breaths._

"_What're you doing, Akazumi," he asked shakily._

"_Wait and watch," she whispered as she ran her arms along his back and gradually around his waist. She slowly started to undo his obi when his hand grasped her._

"_Zumi, no," he said weakly._

"_Why?" she asked looking at him, letting her thigh brush against his in slow, sensuous movements. She was surprised at the reaction of her own body. A bliss she hadn't expected had started to course through her, making her weak in her knees._

_Tsuruga had started to respond but her ministrations started to have its effect on him and he started to shiver slightly. She pried open his hand and kissed each of the fingers, while her other hand undid the obi. He didn't stop her this time. She let his obi fall and moved closer to him, resting his hand over her thrumming heart. He gave a small, shuddering moan and whispered 'no' before claiming her lips in a heated and passionate kiss._

_The rest of their clothing were discarded in hurry and he carried her to her bed. He laid her on her bed and said, "You'll really be the death of me."_

_With a smile she pulled him closer. The book and its instructions were forgotten as she let her body dance to some primordial rhythm that it apparently was well aware of. The two lovers coupled in the silvery blue light of the moon. His every touch, every kiss gave Akazumi unparalleled pleasure. The book had lied. No words could describe what she felt at that moment. _


	20. Chapter 18

I was having some real issues writing this fic. For some reason my muse had deserted me and I couldn't visualize the scenes. And if I can't visualize it, I can't write it. So, I went back to the drawing board, rearranged some events and the chronology of them, introduced some minor events and voila, looks like I can visualise it again! Hope it lasts.

As I told on the update of LYTO, I've started the ground work on my new Ulquihime, called "LOST IN TIME". It is fantasy/Romance and has a fairly complex plot. I will start publishing it as soon as I can. For those who don't know, the basic outline is as follows:

_Orihime is a fashion journalist and a historic romance novel writer whose life has hit a rut. Her career is stagnant and her muse has deserted her. Ulquiorra is a warrior who follows a strict code of honor. His life belongs to his master. The two weren't even supposed to meet. However, in one fateful evening, something magical happens and their worlds collide. AU._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

Orihime's eyes fluttered open to find Ulquiorra sitting on the couch, reading something. Mortification didn't even begin to describe her feeling as the details of the 'dream' came rushing back to her. Flustered beyond words, she stood up and started to leave when Ulquiorra called her.

"Woman, are you hurt?"

"What?" she spun on her heels, "No, why would you think so?"

"You were moaning," he answered.

_Holy shit!_ Taking a deep breath to calm herself she said, "Was I? I don't know."

Ulquiorra put down the book he was reading and stood up, "Alright, this is it. I know you've been hiding something from me. I want to know what is going on."

She knew he hadn't believed a word of the cock-and-bull story that she had fed him a few days ago and that he would eventually question her again. But to think he had chosen this very moment, when her mind was full of extremely vivid and intimate pictures of her and Ulquiorra, although in different avatars. Blushing furiously, she turned her back to him.

"T-there's nothing going on!"

"Are you telling that to me or to yourself?" he queried.

"Exactly what are you implying?" she asked, although not with conviction.

"You know very well what I'm trying to say."

Still facing away from him she said, "I'm sorry Ulquiorra, I don't know what you're saying or what you mean. I really …"

Before she could finish, a hand wound around her arm and she was whirled around. He held her inches away from himself as he stared into her eyes.

"Don't lie to me," he said in a low voice, "I can hear your heartbeat remember?"

She shuddered. He was so close; his breath was tickling her skin. Uninhibited the images from her dream came to her mind. Heat pooled into her lower abdomen. Her knees became week and an unparalleled need filled her entire being. Every pore in her body screamed for her to hug him and she gave into it. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. Burying her face into his chest and clutched his shirt. All the insecurities, the fears and the doubts that had plagued her for the past twelve days melted away. For the first time in a long while she felt safe. To her surprise though, Ulquiorra's arms came around her.

"Why won't you tell me what is bothering you?" he asked gently.

"Please Ulquiorra," she murmured against his chest, "Don't ask me anything. I can't lie to you but I'm not ready to tell the truth yet."

"You're upset and for some reason that bothers me," he said honestly.

Despite herself, Orihime smiled, "That is one of the sweetest things anyone has told me in a while."

"You will tell me when you're ready, won't you?"

She nodded, "Of course, who else will I tell it to?"

The two of them stood there, locked in each other's embrace. It felt so right! Orihime didn't want to get away from him and he didn't make any movement either. After a while she realized that there was one thing she could tell him.

She lifted her head to look at him, "There is something I forgot to tell you."

"What?" his voice was low and beautiful. It was giving her a strange sort of pleasure.

"Sora visited me the other day. He's left the world of the living."

"I know," he replied.

She smiled and burrowed into his chest again, her eyes closed. This was so wonderful, to be able to hold him without any worries any restrictions. Since she had understood her true feelings, she had no troubles in identifying the plethora of emotions that were running through her. His breath, his smell, his feel, they had lulled her to a sense of peace. Her defences had slipped and before she realized it, she told him what was on her mind.

"Ulquiorra, I love you."

It was as if every dream that she had built over the past few days came crashing around her as Ulquiorra shot out of her arms. He was looking at her as if seeing her for the first time.

"What do you mean?" his voice was sharp, cold.

"I … I'm sorry I don't know why I said that. I …"

"How many times do I have to tell you? Do not lie to me. It is futile, Woman," His voice was heavier than usual. The marks on his face were becoming darker, bigger. His eyes were changing colour. It was as if he was slipping away from his human form. His reiatsu was slowly but steadily increasing.

While Orihime had withstood his reiatsu on multiple occasions and had come to recognise its quality, there was a distinct darkness to it now that she was unfamiliar with. Without being told she knew that this cold dark feeling that was emanating from him was the reason his form was known as the embodiment of true despair. Shivering she hugged herself and was about to crumple on to the floor when a taloned hand grabbed her.

"Do you even realize the import of the words you just said?"

"U-Ulquiorra, I …" Orihime was completely overwhelmed by him. She was incapable of even thinking. Just his proximity was chilling her to the bone.

"Love?" he asked disdainfully, "What is that? Why do you feel the need to associate such human sentiments with me?"

Unbidden tears started to roll down Orihime's eyes but Ulquiorra wouldn't stop.

"Did you forget who I am woman?" He pulled her hand up and placed it on his chest, "Heart. That is where the emotions come from, right? Where is mine?"

He emphasised by putting her hand over his hollow hole, "Something is missing, don't you think?"

By now Orihime had broken down completely. He let go of her hand and she collapsed on to the ground, crying. Ulquiorra cast her a cold, unfeeling glance before walking over to the bedroom and flying out of the window.

* * *

><p>Foolish, foolish woman! What had she been thinking? How could she even think of him in human terms? How could she have forgotten that he was the predator and she was the prey? For a prey to develop filial attachment towards its predator, the very idea was laughable.<p>

But then, he hadn't exactly maintained the required status quo of their relationship either. He had actually toyed with the idea of having her as his mate. So it was actually a tad hypocritical of him to accuse Orihime of stupidity. But he had reacted purely on instinct. When Orihime had confessed her love to him, something deep within him had stirred. A cold, dark and very primitive feeling had come over him. It was only now, in retrospect, that he understood that he had been scared. Not for himself but for her. She had no idea that she was playing with fire.

She was tempting him, sorely. He desired her desperately and she was freely offering herself to him. His grip on himself was tenacious at best and this evening he had come dangerously close to losing it completely. One small slip on his part and the woman would be dead or worse. And he didn't want that for her. With her words, his lust had threatened to overpower him and he had done the only thing he knew to do to save both of them – lash out.

He changed his form and became a human. He had left Orihime crying on the floor and he didn't like it but it was for the better. Better for whom though, he had to wonder. He walked along the deserted streets of Karakura, hands shoved in his pockets. For some reason his hollow hole ached and he felt slightly suffocated. He frowned. Strange, this had never happened before. Ensuring that there was no one around to witness his actions, he unbuttoned his shirt. He fingered the edge of his hollow hole and inhaled sharply. It was slightly warm to the touch. What could have caused that unusual occurrence? Absently he buttoned his shirt and was about to resume walking when he felt a distinct reiatsu.

"Kurosaki," he called out.

The tall shinigami walked into his field of vision dressed in casual human clothing, his hands in his jacket pockets. "Undressing in public view? Is that a new fetish that I'm unaware of?"

"Are you here to exchange banalities?" Ulquiorra didn't let on but he hoped Kurosaki hadn't seen him fingering his hollow hole. That could lead to some uncomfortable questions.

"No, I'm here to ask what exactly are you training Orihime for."

"As her baby sitter, shouldn't you already be aware of it?" Ulquiorra queried.

"Keep walking, we'll attract attention otherwise," Ichigo said brusquely.

"Really? Whose? A few stray crickets'?" Nonetheless he joined Kurosaki.

The Shinigami and the Hollow walked in uncomfortable silence for a while before Ichigo's patience ran out, "So are you going to tell me or not?"

"To withstand reiatsu," Ulquiorra answered.

Ichigo stopped, "Excuse me?"

Ulquiorra continued to walk, "Are you hard of hearing or are you so dumb that you don't understand what I said?"

"Why would you train her to withstand reiatsu?"

"She asked me to," he answered.

"Ulquiorra," Ichigo caught up to the hollow, "You need to stop, now! She collapses at the slightest spike of reiatsu she will die if she endures the entire weight of your power."

"Where is this concern for her safety stemming from?" Ulquiorra turned to face him, "If I recall correctly, you knocked her out with your reiatsu and then abandoned her. You left her alone and defenceless. So you have lost all rights to preach."

"What I did was for her own good," Ichigo countered.

"Is that what you tell yourself to assuage your guilt?"

Ichigo changed tack, "What I did was different. I'm not saying it was good but it was different. What you're doing might harm her. You have to stop."

Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed, "Make me."

Ichigo met Ulquiorra fierce stare squarely. The two of them stayed locked in a stare match for a while. The honk of a passing car caused both of them to blink.

"See you around, or not," Ulquiorra said and left the scene using sonido.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo," the blond man said in a condescending voice, "You just have to be on standby. Is it so difficult?"<p>

"Get someone else to do your work," Ichigo snapped, "I've just about had it with the two hollows and their impudence."

They were in the small shop that doubled up as Urahara's convenience store. He had planted reiatsu suppressing devices all around the shop to prevent detection by either of the two powerful hollows. Gathered in there were Ichigo, Rukia, Urahara and his black cat.

"You know it can't be anyone else," the cat said from a chair.

"AND PLEASE GET RID OF YOUR TALKING CAT! IT FREAKS ME OUT!" Ichigo screamed.

Urahara merely continued to smirk idly while the cat proceeded to scratch its ears. Rukia looked at the cat for a bit then turned to Urahara.

"Seriously, why do you possess a talking cat?" she asked, "He's a little creepy."

"It's a she," the cat said, "I'm a female. Honestly, one would think being a female yourself you'd recognise your own kind."

Rukia stared at the cat flabbergasted, "I'm sorry," she said finally, "I don't quite know what to say to that. Your voice sounds like a man's. "

"So?" the cat asked.

"Cut the chatter," Ichigo said irritably, "I really don't get it. Why does it _have_ to be me? I mean couldn't someone else do it? Someone with more patience? Someone like Kira for example?"

"No," Urahara replied, "It has to be you. Like I said earlier, there is something very precious and invaluable waiting for you at the end of it all."

"You just wanna mess with me, that's all," Ichigo grumbled.

"That too," Urahara agreed gleefully.

"While we are talking about that," the cat said seriously, "How's this for some messing?"

Saying so the cat morphed into a beautiful, full grown, curvaceous, purple haired woman. If that transformation wasn't disturbing enough, she was also completely naked. Ichigo let out what sounded like a cross between a mouse's squeak and a pig's oink and fell off the chair. Rukia blinked several times but managed to stay on. Meanwhile Urahara and the woman were in splits.

"What the hell?" Ichigo screamed pointing at her, "Why are you a woman? And why aren't you wearing clothes?"

"Don't you think a stray cat wearing clothes would attract attention?" she asked innocently.

"Yoruichi Shihoin?" Rukia said seriously, "So this is where you've been? Hiding in plain sight, masquerading as a cat?"

"What?" Ichigo said perplexed, "This is Yoruichi? The girl your brother was supposed to marry?"

Yoruichi's smiled softly, "Yes, I am Yoruichi. The girl Byakuya was supposed to marry."

* * *

><p>Several days later, Grimmjow sat in his apartment engrossed in a hilariously entertaining T.V. program called "The Jerry Springer Show". He loved the way the people in the show beat each other up for ridiculous reasons and the drama that it contained. It made him chuckle. The episode he was watching had a woman who was complaining about her boyfriend running away with her best friend's sister. The two women were pulling each other's hair and Grimmjow was laughing his butt off on the couch. The doorbell distracted him and he walked over to the door chuckling his heart out. He opened the door and to his intense surprise he found Orihime standing there, looking distraught.<p>

"Orihime?" he was perplexed.

"Hi Grimmjow," she said hesitatingly, "Can I come in?"

"Uh, yeah sure," he moved to the side to allow her in.

She walked in and sat on the couch. She looked pale and thoroughly shaken. Grimmjow frowned and switched the TV off.

"What's going on? Has Ulquiorra said something?"

Orihime shook her head, her lips set into a tight line.

"Then what the fuck is wrong?"

Orihime fumbled with her purse strap for a while. She bit her lips and looked up at him.

"Grimmjow, I need your help."

"Sure," he replied uncertainly, "Who do I have to track?"

"I don't need to track someone," she said shivering, "I need something bigger."

"And that would be?"

"Take me to Hueco Mundo."


	21. Chapter 19

I'm sorry that I'm taking forever to update this story but this story has been giving me some grief. Somehow something isn't quite working. However now that I'm in the third and final part, I think I should be able to write it better. Things become dark from here on and will soon become dark enough that I would have to change the rating to M. In fact the second part of this chapter might be a little disturbing to some of the more sensitive readers. This chapter doesn't have Ulquiorra in it but I still like this chapter.

On a lighter note, I've published my new Ulquihime **Lost in Time**. Do take a look.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 19<strong>

After staring at her expressionlessly for a few moments Grimmjow spoke, "What the fuck have you consumed?"

Orihime's head snapped up "Eh?"

"I know humans get high on any fucking thing, alcohol, grass and powders. So which of those did you have?"

"Grimmjow! I'm serious," she said irritably.

Grimmjow shook his head, "Wait! Lemme get this shit straight! You come here looking like you've seen the worst fucking nightmare of your life, and then you tell me to take you to a place that's worse that the bloody amalgamation of all your fucking nightmares and then you want me to believe that you're fucking serious? Are you totally out of your fucking mind?"

Orihime sighed apparently prepared for the tirade, "Look Grimmjow, I understand …"

"Do you?" Grimmjow snapped, "Do you really fucking understand what you're asking me to do? Assuming that I will agree, which I will not, Ulquiorra will kill me. And I'm technically already dead, so he'll kill me again!"

Orihime opened her mouth once again trying to explain but Grimmjow ploughed on resolutely, now pacing across the room in agitation, "If by some freaking chance I do manage to get you into Hueco Mundo without killing you, do have any fucking clue what awaits you? The place is fucking teeming with Hollows, Menos, Adjucas and Vasto Lordes. And each of them is much more fucking powerful there than they are in the world of living. Reishi flows in the very air. Unafraid of any Shinigami punks, the hollows run bloody unchecked. If I take you there, all you'll have is a fucking Adjucas defending you. Alone I can handle it, but when I have to take care of you, I don't know how fucking useful I'll be because honestly chick you'll be a fucking deadweight. I may still be able to handle the Hollows or the Menos but the moment I'm faced with another Adjucas or a Vasto Lorde, I'll be in a fucking pinch. I …"

"Grimmjow," Orihime interrupted him, "I'm not going to be a dead weight."

Grimmjow let out a mirthless laugh, "Yeah! Because Ulquiorra has been training you to withstand reiatsu? Let me put things into fucking perspective for you! While in the world of living, we have to suppress our reiatsu. Even if we let it spike to the highest level that is sustainable in this world, it still wouldn't be all of our power. Ulquiorra, for example, even at his highest will be at 60% of his total strength. If he pushes his reiatsu any further, everything around him will fucking implode. While training you, he uses even less than 10% of that 60%. Do you get the picture? What I mean is, if in Hueco Mundo his strength is 100 bits, then you've only witnessed 4.8 bits of it, at the most. Do you even fucking understand? And the worst fucking part is Ulquiorra isn't the strongest resident of Hueco Mundo. There are three other Vasto Lordes. Starrk, Barragan and Hallibel, all of whom are at least at par if not more powerful than him. A mere whiff of the air there is sufficient to kill a human being. Do you really fucking think I would take you there?"

Orihime sighed, "Grimmjow, look at me. REALLY look at me."

The blue-haired Espada whirled around to face her, annoyance writ large on his face. He glared daggers at her and opened his mouth to start another rant but paused, his eyes growing large, "What the bloody fuck?"

Orihime sat in silence as she let Grimmjow process what he was witnessing. He continued to stare at her for a while before sitting next to her, "How the fuck has your reiatsu risen so much?"

"I just learned some very disturbing things about myself," she whispered.

"Like?"

"I … I'm not a human," she added in a nearly inaudible voice, "Not completely. I… I'm part Shinigami."

Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "That … that makes a lot of sense. But it also raises a whole fucking set of questions again."

Orihime nodded, "I know. And that's why I want to go there. Something tells me the answer lies in Hueco Mundo."

Grimmjow sat there, looking at something that only he could see, "Human-Shinigami hybrid huh? You've seen your Zanapakuto?"

Orihime nodded and Grimmjow's eyes raked over her person, "I don't see it."

At that she called forth her Shun-Shun Rikka. Grimmjow sat stunned as she demonstrated its powers to him one after another. At the end of the demonstration he gave a low whistle while the fairies returned to their vessel.

"Wow," he said slowly after a while, "Do you have any fucking clue what this means? A Human-Shinigami hybrid is rare. Very, very fucking rare. There have been very few cases. You … you might just… wow."

After a long period of silence Grimmjow spoke again, "I have like a million fucking questions. Can I ask?"

Orihime nodded, and he immediately started rattling off, "How did you find out? Does Ulquiorra know? Why do you need to go to Hueco Mundo? Why the fuck was your reiatsu so low and how come has it risen so much so suddenly? What the bloody fuck is going on?"

She bit her lip as she took time to phrase her answer, "I found out through a combination of dreams and information that my Shun Shun Rikka provided. Ulquiorra doesn't know yet. Things are a little… weird between us right now. I need to go to Hueco Mundo because the answers I seek involve Ulquiorra as well and he's lived in Hueco Mundo for centuries. I'm not entirely sure why my reiatsu has risen all of a sudden and why it was so low to begin with. And honestly, I myself don't know what the bloody fuck is going on."

Grimmjow sat in stunned silence as he processed everything Orihime had just told him.

"This is the reason why could see the spiritual beings and the reason Hollows attacked you from a very young age. A Human-Shinigami hybrid soul is very rare and powerful. They would definitely want to consume something like that," he mumbled after a while.

Orihime nodded, "Although, for the life of me, I can't figure out why I stopped seeing them suddenly and then started seeing them again, equally suddenly."

Grimmjow turned to look at her, his cerulean eyes absolutely serious, "Urahara Kisuke."

Orihime bit her lip thoughtfully, "So you reached to the same conclusion?"

"There is no other conclusion to reach to anyway," he replied, "He must have suppressed your reiatsu somehow. Think about it. After the attack on your family, when your brother took you to that mysterious man, you stopped seeing Hollows. I can't think of any other person who'd do something like that. Do you?"

Orihime smiled a little, "Oh that mysterious person was Urahara Kisuke, Sora confirmed it."

"Your brother?" Grimmjow asked. When Orihime nodded he continued, "Then let's go to Urahara Kisuke. I can track him; I've had his trail for a bloody long time. We can get all the answers we need you won't have to…"

"NO!" Orihime screamed, "I'm not going to ask that man for a single answer. When I meet him, I will have all the facts with him. I won't let him blindside me with useless facts. I want to throw them at his face and watch as tries to squirm his way out from the web of lies and deceit."

Grimmjow raised his blue eyebrows, "I knew you didn't like him but the way you're speaking of him, I think you fucking hate him."

She sighed deeply, "Till now, I was merely annoyed with him. The reason I wanted to build my reiatsu was that I wanted to face him without fainting. It was a matter of stupid pride. But things have changed."

"Changed how?"

"I … I discovered a few more things about myself," she answered hesistantly.

"Like?"

Taking a deep breath she continued, "Ulquiorra and I were lovers in a past life."

Grimmjow gaped at her, "Are you fucking serious?"

Orihime nodded, "He was known as Tsuruga then and he was a skilled warrior, but he was human. We belonged to rival families that had a bloody history. I recollected it all in a dream. Till now, I was treating this as an embarrassing bit of information and I kept it to myself. But this morning, I saw something very disturbing."

When Orihime's silence prolonged, Grimmjow probed, "What?"

"I realised that Tsuruga had a Shinigami friend who betrayed him. This friend of his told his family about our liaison. And this was what led to Tsuruga's death," she ended in a low voice.

"Fuck," Grimmjow muttered.

Orihime nodded solemnly, "I need to know why and how Tsuruga became Ulquiorra. I need to know what exactly he had to go through because of that bastard."

Grimmjow remained silent.

"You'll take me there, won't you?" she pleaded.

The hollow sighed deeply, "I know I'm going to regret this. I just know I am."

* * *

><p>Admittedly Orihime didn't know what to expect but whatever she had imagined, her journey to Hueco Mundo had been much worse. If it hadn't been for Grimmjow, she was fairly certain that she would, at the very least, been split into two.<p>

Grimmjow had advised her that they travel in the night. He had asked her to meet him at a park and preferably after she had thrown off her babysitters. He didn't want Ichigo or Rukia to follow them and Orihime had to agree. It would be inconvenient to say the least. Neither of them were much worried about Ulquiorra following her because he was diligently avoiding her anyway. He would come to her every day for the training sessions and then, promptly leave to locations undisclosed. The training session themselves were filled with awkward and strained silences. So it wasn't really a surprise for her to find that Ulquiorra was now nowhere to be seen. Grimmjow assured her that he was in Karakura town, although very far off at the moment.

Grimmjow didn't tell her, and in her current agitation, it seemed to have slipped her mind, but as soon as the Garganta closed, both their reiatsus would vanish from the World of the Living. That meant that Ulquiorra, Rukia and Ichigo would instantly know that they were gone. He just hoped that they wouldn't readily jump to the conclusion that they had gone to Hueco Mundo.

Once Orihime was certain that she'd shaken off Rukia, she quickly reached the park where Grimmjow stood waiting. He was in his Adjucas form.

"Ready?" he asked and received a vehement nod from her in reply. He snapped his fingers and slowly the air in front of them started to tear. Orihime had never stood so close to a garganta and the first thing that struck her was the smell. It wasn't a putrid or offensive smell, in fact the smell was faint but there was something about it that made her shiver involuntarily. If Orihime were to describe the scent she would have said that it was cold, clammy, faint and strangely enough, dark. In short, the garganta reeked of Death.

Grimmjow held out a black clawed hand which Orihime took demurely. He tugged her and pulled her against himself. "Stay close," he said in her ears before stepping in and closing the garganta.

Instantly they were plunged into absolute darkness. Orihime tightened her grip on his arm as Grimmjow led her down a path she couldn't see. With the sense of vision rendered useless, her other senses heightened and much to her disconcertion she realized that there was nothing beneath her feet. Grimmjow appeared to be guiding her on thin air.

"Grimmjow!" she squeaked, "There's nothing beneath us!"

"You're walking on Reishi," he answered calmly, "Now shh! You don't want to attract attention."

Orihime wanted to ask whose attention could she possibly attract in a garganta, but decided against it; moments later though, her question was answered. She heard some things hiss loudly. A feral growl sounded right next to her ears and that scared her. It was a growl unlike anything she had heard before; it raised the hairs on her skin. The thing that had let out the growl drew in a rattling breath and almost instantly the snake-like hissing and spitting stopped. It was then that she realized that the growl had been let out by Grimmjow.

She had barely processed that information when suddenly the air around her became chilly. She felt Grimmjow pull her closer as the space around them started to constrict.

"Shit!" Grimmjow muttered, "They realized that there's a non-hollow."

Before Orihime could asked who were 'they', Grimmjow picked her up like a sack of potatoes and started to run. She could feel disembodied hands trying to claw at her but Grimmjow was faster. Not only did he parry most of the hands, he also continued to run. Orihime's heart was thumping loudly and for the first time in a long while, she was genuinely scared.

Unexpectedly a couple of hands grasped Orihime's arms and she let out an involuntary scream. The hands felt squishy, gooey and at the same time bony, as if she was held by a rotting corpse. Instantly some more hands materialized out of nowhere and grabbed her, pulling at her. She fought with all her might but it was in vain. She felt Grimmjow grasp her waist and a tug of war ensued between him and the hands. Orihime felt like she would be torn into two as neither was willing to let go.

Suddenly she felt Grimmjow let go of her. She was about to scream when she realized that the hands too had let go of her. It was then that she realized that she was falling and falling fast! The clammy smell of the Garganta was gone and she had regained her vision and all she could see was a white waste land and she was falling, unobstructed and uninhibited. Instinctively she called out her Shun Shun Rikka and a shield appeared beneath her, breaking her free fall. The shield slowed her down and she landed on the ground with a soft 'fump'. As the shield dissipated, someone landed right next to her. She turned to find Grimmjow standing up, having gracefully landed on all his fours.

"How did you manage that?" she asked brushing off sand from her clothes.

"Manage what?"

"Landing so smoothly?"

He grinned, "I'm a Panther. I always have a smooth landing."

Orihime smiled shakily, "Thank you for helping me in the garganta. That was scary."

Grimmjow's expression grew serious, "If that scared you, maybe you should turn back."

Orihime's eyes widened, "Meaning?"

He turned to face her and said, "It may sound clichéd, but know that I mean it when I say, 'Welcome to Hell, baby'."


	22. Chapter 20

A small chapter but an important one. This story is now coming to an end. There is probably about 6-7 chapters left. Loved you Twice Over too is coming to an end. I am thinking that I will focus on finishing these two before I continue with Trust to Hope and Lost in Time, both of which have a long way to go. What say?

This chapter has not been beta'd.

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><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

Rukia was the first to sense that something was amiss. Two Menos had showed up in two different places of Karakura town at the same time, forcing her and Ichigo to act. Surprisingly, neither Ulquiorra nor Grimmjow had shown up during the fights. Rukia had managed to kill the Menos fairly easily but it had taken her attention off of her main task for a while and once she was done, she instantly sensed that something was different. Closing her eyes she concentrated on the three reiatsus that she needed to keep track of and was mightily surprised to find that two of the three were missing.

Instantly she whipped out her cell phone (bless humans and their ingenuity) and dialled Ichigo's number.

"Rukia!" he barked, "I'm trying to kill a Menos here!"

"You mean you're not done yet?"

A few grunts later, "Does it sound like I'm done?"

"Get rid of that one quickly," she commanded tersely, "We don't have time to waste on decoys."

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><p>"Wait, what? Decoys? Hello, Rukia? Damnit!" she had disconnected the call. Irritated with everything, Ichigo swung his Zanapakuto in an upward arc and slashed the Menos in half. Slapping the Zanapakuto to his back, Ichigo used shunpo to reach to Rukia.<p>

"What decoy?" he demanded as soon as he saw her.

"Sense it you fool!" she snapped, "Orihime and Grimmjow, their reiatsus are gone!"

"You exceed my expectations," a silky soft voice interrupted Ichigo's tirade of curses.

"Ulquiorra Schiffer!" Ichigo said tightly, "Where are the two?"

"I was about to ask the same question," Ulquiorra answered.

"Do you think Grimmjow harmed Orihime somehow?" Ichigo asked Rukia.

Ulquiorra shook his head, "Grimmjow wouldn't harm the one person who's been keeping him entertained."

"So what happens when the entertainment ceases?" Rukia wondered.

"He'll move away in search of new means to entertain himself," Ulquiorra answered, "Wild and untamed as Grimmjow may seem, he is not totally stupid."

"And that is supposed to reassure me how?" Ichigo barked.

Ulquiorra gave a weary sigh, "What I implied and you're obviously too stupid to understand is that Grimmjow wouldn't harm Orihime. He knows there are quite a few powerful entities who are keeping an eye on her, he wouldn't risk angering all of them."

Ichigo bristled, "Then you tell us where the two are!"

"Would if I could," Ulquiorra answered.

"You mean you don't know?" Rukia asked.

Ulquiorra sighed again, "I thought I made it crystal clear."

Ichigo had hotly started to say something when a fourth male voice sounded. "Honestly! Don't the three of you have two brain-cells to rub together?"

The three of them turned around to locate the owner of the voice and were surprised that they couldn't find anyone.

"Who's there?" Ichigo commanded irritably.

A black cat walked into the view, its tail held up proudly, "It's me. Don't tell me you've forgotten my voice."

"YOU?" Ichigo and Rukia chorused.

"The two of you know a talking cat. Why am I not surprised?" Ulquiorra deadpanned.

Ignoring the hollow the cat continued, "Those two idiots have gone to Hueco Mundo."

The two Shinigamis exchanged looks of dread, "What? Why?"

The cat plopped down on his hind legs and began to lick its unmentionables.

"Please don't do that," Ichigo said looking slightly green.

"Cats do that, Shinigami," Ulquiorra said calmly, "More importantly, how do you know about Grimmjow and Orihime?"

"Oh, where are my manners?" the cat said and stood up, "Perhaps if I showed you who I really am, you'll know."

Ulquiorra waited without any trace of expression on his face. A puff of smoke issued from nowhere and the cat morphed into a naked Yoruichi Shihoin.

"If I'm not mistaken," Ulquiorra said, completely ignoring the indignant shouts of Ichigo about shamelessness, dress codes and surprises, "You're Yoruichi Shihoin, Kisuke Urahara's mate."

"I'm impressed by your knowledge, hollow," she responded smoothly.

He continued as if she hadn't spoken, "It definitely makes more sense."

Rukia, who was still trying to control Ichigo from running over to Yoruichi and drape her in his clothes, asked, "What makes more sense?"

"That it is Yoruichi Shihoin who's giving us the information of their whereabouts, rather than some random talking cat."

With that he began to walk away from the three of them.

"Yo!" Ichigo called out, "Where are you off to?"

"To Hueco Mundo of course," he answered.

"We're coming with you," Rukia said.

"Then I suggest you start walking," Ulquiorra retorted.

Ichigo looked like he wanted to argue but then decided against it and began to follow Rukia.

"So I guess I'll take my leave then," Yoruichi said, "Good luck!"

"So why didn't we open a garguanta right there?" Ichigo asked after a while, trying to keep up with Ulquiorra who seemed to be heading out towards a park, "Can it not be done?"

"It can," Ulquiorra answered.

Rukia frowned, "Then why didn't you do it?"

He kept walking, "You want to accompany me to Hueco Mundo, you'll have to play by my rules. You'll follow my lead, no questions asked. If that is alright with you, you may come or else find some other means of getting there."

The two shinigamis exchanged a look and reached a silent agreement to go along with Ulquiorra.

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><p>As far as Orihime could see, all that she saw was a limitless stretch of white sand punctuated by white, leafless thorn bushes at irregular intervals. A black, starless sky adorned with an inverted sickle moon lay overhead. The very air carried so much reiatsu that Orihime found breathing laborious.<p>

"You better buck up chick," Grimmjow said, "Because you have no time to be standing here like this."

"Why?" Orihime got the answer to her question almost immediately. Her feet were grasped tightly by two hands that had poked out of the sand. She screamed and tried to run, only to fall flat on her face. The hands groped their way up Orihime's leg and to her sheer horror she saw that a humanoid form was emerging from the sand. It was one of the scariest things that Orihime had ever seen. Chunks of flesh appeared to be missing from a multitude of places. The thing had no eyes or nose and only a diagonal gash in place of its mouth from which it drew in a rattling breath. It was the sickening sound that jolted her into action.

"Koten Zanshun! I reject!" Orihime screamed and Tsubaki shot out of her hairpins to slash through the hands from the wrists.

The thing sunk back into the sands and a visibly shaken Orihime unclamped the decapitated hands that were still clutching her knees. She looked up to Grimmjow to ask why he hadn't helped her when she noticed that he had his hands more than full. Five Menos had appeared from nowhere and were keeping the Adjucas busy. Orihime had never fully grasped just how powerful Grimmjow was.

In his hollow form, Grimmjow had already deflected the ceros from all the menos and was now firing up one of his own. Biting on of his fingers to produce a small trickle of blood, he held up his hand in a claw like form and within moments Orihime saw a huge ball of blue circling within it.

"Put up a shield," he screamed and hurled his cero. Orihime had just managed to put up a shield when the cero made contact and three of the five menos were vaporized. Without wasting a moment, he folded his left hand and yelled "Garra de la Pantera!"

Two dark green, stone like darts shot out of his elbow and blew the remaining Menos into smithereens before they could even mount an attack.

"Keep moving," Grimmjow said urgently, "Those blasts must've attracted attention!"

Orihime didn't need to be told twice and the two of them started running. The sand and the reiatsu heavy air was making it difficult for her to run but one thought kept pushing her forward. She had come here to know why had the gentle and loving Tsuruga turned into the cold Ulquiorra? When she couldn't continue, they stopped under an outcrop of the leafless bushes. She leaned on one, heaving, ruing the fact that she didn't bring some water with herself.

"This place is weird!" Orihime complained, "Why is there so much sand? I would've thought hell to be… I don't know a fiery pit maybe?"

"You're talking Christian mythology," Grimmjow replied, "Technically there shouldn't even be a Soul Society, right?"

Orihime hadn't thought of it that way, "Yeah, you're right."

"This sand," Grimmjow said nudging it with his feet, "It's not sand."

"Yeah? What's it then?"

"Crushed hollow remains mixed with reiatsu," Grimmjow answered calmly.

"What? And I'm standing on it? Disgusting!" Orihime squeaked. Suddenly Orihime remembered the way those hands had grasped her.

"What was that thing back there?" she asked, involuntarily shivering at the memory.

"What thing?" Grimmjow wasn't even breathing hard.

"That thing that came out of the sand!" Orihime said between pants.

"Oh that! It is called a burrower. They are usually very low level hollows. The thing sensed your reiatsu and wanted to feed. They can be brushed off pretty easy. Although," he paused for the briefest of seconds, "You don't want to inhale that breath."

"Those are low level hollows?" Orihime's eyes widened, "That thing scared the living daylights out of me!"

"It's only the beginning," Grimmjow said, "Fuck! I knew this was a bad idea. Look there is still time. I can take you back. We should have never fucking come here. Come on …"

"I think not!" came a new voice, causing Grimmjow's eyes to widen considerably. For the first time Orihime saw fear in those sapphire eyes. Very slowly he turned and Orihime peeked from behind him to look at the newcomer.

To say that he was bizarre looking was an understatement. She had seen both Ulquiorra and Grimmjow in their true hollow forms and neither had elicited fear in her. While Ulquiorra's form was rather majestic, she found Grimmjow lithe. This one however was neither. In fact he looked like he had stepped straight out of her nightmares. The first thing that struck Orihime was that the newcomer was extremely tall and thin. Like Ulquiorra, he too had horns on his head, only they were crescent shaped and asymmetrical. He had long, flowing, wild, black hair which flew around him in tendrils. His left eye had a set of teeth around it leading her to guess that that was where his hollow hole was. He had four bony arms, each of which held a scythe like weapon. But what disturbed Orihime the most was the toothy leer on his face. There was something exceedingly unnerving about the way he was grinning.

"Nnoitra," Grimmjow said in a tight voice.

"What the fuck are you hiding behind your back, kitten?"

"I'm a fucking Panther, not a kitten," Grimjjow growled, "And she is none of your business."

Nnoitra struck out his tongue, which was exceptionally long, and appeared to taste the air, "Nah, I think she's my fucking business. A human-shinigami hybrid soul! Hell I could finally become a fucking vasto-lorde! Move aside pussycat, I want that soul."

"No can do, you fucking vermin," Grimmjow spat out.

"You're gonna fight me?" he cackled in a way that made Orihime's hairs stand.

Grimmjow turned his hands into claws, "Looks like it."

Nnoitra let out another hair-raising laugh, "This is fan-fucking-tastic. I've been waiting for someone to challenge me with a good fight. Now I get one. Come on itty-bitty Adjucas, show me what you got!"


	23. Chapter 21

****

Hi everyone. So sorry for the slow update but life's kinda busy these days. I haven't responded to reviews either in a while, so apologies for that. I woll start responding to reviews from this chapter on. Enjoy some breakneck action. Special thanks to Nnoitra Jiruga for graciously agreeing to play a small role in the story.XD

This chapter is not beta'd.

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><p><strong><strong>

**Chapter 21****  
><strong>

Nnoitra lunged at Grimmjow with two of his scythe which the Adjucas swiftly sidestepped. But that was the decoy, the real attack came from top which Grimmjow was unable to prevent in time and consequently the scythe embedded itself deep into his shoulder. With a blood curdling yell, Grimmjow swat at the scythe breaking its handle and rendering the weapon useless. However the blade was still lodged into his shoulder uncomfortably. With his left hand he yanked the blade out, ignoring his gaping wound.

"Bastard," Grimmjow growled with one eye shut, "I should've known you'd go all out from the get go. Now I won't hold back either."

Nnoitra guffawed, "Do your best little pissant! Let's see what you got."

Grimmjow bared his fangs and yelled, "Desgarron!"

Orihime gasped as Grimmjow's claws started to elongate and glow. With a quick slash in the air, he released one of the claws, which went slicing through the air and cutting another scythe of Nnoitra's in the process. With two of his four scythes destroyed, the black-haired hollow let out an ear-splitting shriek. He brought his remaining weapons together and he merged them together. Grimmjow shot another of his claws which the tall hollow deflected with a bare hand, eliciting a surprised gasp from Orihime. A deep gash formed in his hand upon contact with the airborne claw, but it healed within moments.

Nnoitra held his scythe above his head horizontally and started to whirl it vehemently. Grimmjow swore under his breath and roughly pushed Orihime away.

"Stay back, guard yourself somehow," he growled before taking a crouching position.

Orihime had barely managed to put up her shield when the sand around her had started to swirl rapidly. Very soon, in front of her astounded eyes, Nnoitra had whirled up a tornado, enveloping himself and Grimmjow with it. Almost instantly she heard a loud scream of pain that was unmistakably from Grimmjow. She desperately wanted to help him but it was all she could do to maintain the shield without passing out. The cumulative reiatsu emitting from the two hollows was so oppressive that it had begun to suffocate Orihime.

Grimmjow leapt out of the tornado, sporting two new and jagged cuts, one on his chest and one across his forehead, narrowly missing his left eye. The whirlwind subsided, revealing an equally battered Nnoitra. He was missing one of his hands and had a large gash on his thigh. However the taller hollow seemed least perturbed. Within moments the wound in his thigh healed and he regrew his arm, along with a scythe. Orihime's hands flew to her mouth in sheer horror causing her shield to drop. Nnoitra cackled manically and Grimmjow spat out a glob of blood.

The two hollows circled each other for the next round while Orihime started to back out a little. She knew that she was completely outclassed and even a stray attack could kill her. But even more than that, she was scared for Grimmjow. Although he was holding on his own, but it was apparent to even her novice eyes that he was facing a far stronger opponent. The biggest advantage that Nnoitra had over Grimmjow was his almost instantaneous regeneration. Orihime knew that she could heal Grimmjow but not while the fight was on. But if the fight went on for much longer, she feared there wouldn't be anything left of Grimmjow to heal.

Fear tasted sour in the back of her tongue, as she found herself praying to God for Grimmjow's safety. Just as she was praying fervently, she realized that some shapes had started to materialize around her. Recognizing the reiatsus, her eyes widened and she spun on her heels to face the new comers. Right there, in front of her eyes five menos had appeared out of nowhere, perhaps drawn by the spike in the reiatsus of the fighting hollows or owing to her unique hybrid reiatsu. A small whimper escaped her lips as she realized that she was probably not going to survive this trip. She found herself wishing that she had heeded the warnings of Ulquiorra and Grimmjow and had never undertaken this suicidal journey, more importantly she wished she hadn't dragged Grimmjow along. It wasn't fair that he paid the price for her foolishness.

She took a deep breath and focussed all her energy into summoning Tsubaki. With one yelled command from her, Tsubaki flew and cut the skull of one menos, blowing it to smithereens. She turned around to attack the second menos and managed to kill it as well. But another menos had joined the melee adding to the confusion. Just as she was preparing to attack the third menos, another launched a cero towards her. Instinctively she put up her shield but it caused her to lose control of Tsubaki and she couldn't attack. The other menos, sensing her vulnerability began a relentless barrage of ceros on her and it took all of her strength to hold up her barrier which was beginning to crack under the volley of attacks.

Meanwhile Grimmjow wasn't faring too better himself. He had received a few more wounds and was now bleeding profusely. One of his arms hung limply by his side and he was breathing heavily now. His opponent on the other hand seemed to be relishing every move and wound that was being inflicted, whether be it on his opponent or on his own person. Nnoitra continued to cackle manically, holding aloft all four of his scythes which he had managed to resurrect during the fight. With a psychotic leer on his face, Nnoitra brought the blades of all four of his scythes and prepared for the final attack when suddenly he paused. His expression had changed to one of full concentration.

"Fuck," Nnoitra scowled.

Within moments a familiar and unexpected voice yelled "Getsuga Tenshou!"

A string of reishi zigzagged through the air, slicing through two of the Menos. Orihime drew in a shuddering breath. She had barely recovered from the shock of seeing two of her opponents being defeated with ease when yet another familiar voice rang out.

"Some no mai, Tsukishiro," Orihime's cracked shield dissipated and she spun to find the other two menos frozen in pillars of ice. Her jaw dropped in surprise as the pillars shattered, instantly killing the ones trapped within it. Moments later, Ichigo and Rukia stepped in her view, guarding her from both sides. From the looks on the faces of the two Shinigamis, Orihime knew that they were livid but they refrained from saying a word to her at that point and she soon knew why. Ulquiorra was standing in between Grimmjow and Nnoitra. Although he was shorter and leaner than both of them, but his authority was unmistakable.

"Grimmjow," he said in a level voice, "I'll take over from here."

The blue-haired Espada shot back, "Fuck no! I'll end what I started."

"It's an order Grimmjow Jagerjaquez," Ulquiorra's voice carried a slight hint of threat and his reiatsu peaked marginally.

Almost instantly Orihime felt herself sway on her feet. Ichigo grasped her arm none too gently and commanded in a gruff voice, "Stay still!"

Grimmjow opened his mouth to protest, but Ulquiorra merely flicked his tail and the adjucas flew a few feet away and landed on the sand with a 'fump'. Without even looking at the blue haired hollow, Ulquiorra turned to face Nnoitra.

The taller hollow narrowed his single eye and spat, "What the fuck are you doing here Ulquiorra?"

"What does it look like trash?" Ulquiorra queried.

"My fight isn't with you so fuck off," Nnoitra snapped.

Ulquiorra nodded to where an injured Grimmjow lay unconscious, "There's my reason."

"What the fuck?" Nnoitra asked incredulously and then laughed, "What's this, a tag team?"

"Are you going to fight or should I merely obliterate you?" Ulquiorra asked his voice flat.

Nnoitra raised his scythe and let out a blood curdling yell and swooped down on Ulquiorra, who grasped the scythe with bare hands. Without looking away from the taller hollow, Ulquiorra pressed down on the scythe and broke the blade to bits effortlessly. Nnoitra threw the scythe away and landed a punch on Ulquiorra who took the blow unflinchingly. He quickly wrapped his tail around Nnoitra's neck and started to fly up in the air. As Nnoitra flailed, trying to unwind the stranglehold that Ulquiorra maintained, the Vasto Lorde flew steadily upwards. Then suddenly he unwound his tail and Nnoitra plummeted to the ground. The taller hollow however managed to regain some foothold and came to halt mid-air.

"How is he standing on air?" Oihime asked, confused.

"He's standing on reishi," Rukia responded curtly.

In a flash, Ulquiorra was in front of Nnoitra who was now charging up a golden cero on the base of his tongue. In response Ulquiorra charged one of his own. This was the first time Orihime had seen Ulquiorra's cero and for some reason, she was unsurprised to find that it was green in colour. Rukia grasped Orihime's arm and whisked her away using sonido just as the two ceros collided. The blast of energy released was intense and Orihime had to crouch just to prevent herself from falling. Once the resultant haze cleared, Orihime saw both the hollows standing in the air, each regenerating from the damage caused by the explosion.

Ulquiorra however was already preparing his next attack. He clapped his hands and spread them out in front of them as he said, "Luz de la luna," A number of long thin poles of green energy appeared in front of him. Meanwhile Nnoitra was doing something strange. He had ripped off two of his arms and had them regenerate along with his scythes. He merged the two scythes and wielded the bigger weapon. He brushed his hand over the scythe and charged it with reiatsu, making it glow golden.

Ulquiorra didn't wait for Nnoitra to finish preparing for his attack as he picked up one of the glowing poles in front of him and used it like a javelin, hurling it at his opponent who flicked it away using his scythe but Ulquiorra was relentless. He continued to throw the javelins at Nnoitra at a breakneck speed and all that Nnoitra could do was deflect them and yet he couldn't stop one javelin from piercing his shoulder.

Nnoitra let out a tortured scream and tried to pull out the javelin. Using Nnoitra's momentary distraction, Ulquiorra used sonido to stand in front of him. In one swift motion, he plunged his hand straight into Nnoitra's chest, exactly where Ulquiorra's hollow hole was. Nnoira's eye widened and he coughed up blood.

"I know this isn't enough to kill you," Ulquiorra said calmly. Then, using his other hand he fired a cero at him point blank causing the hollow's head to explode into bits. With that Ulquiorra dumped Nnoitra's limp, lifeless body and turned to look at Grimmjow, his emerald eyes incensed.

As soon as Nnoitra's threat was neutralized, Orihime wrenched her arm free from Rukia's grasp and ran over to the unconscious Grimmjow. Ulquiorra stood next to him with a frown on his face. Ichigo and Rukia too joined the two of them. Grimmjow lay in a bloodied pool, broken and bruised. Orihime kneeled next to Grimmjow, crying softly as she ran a finger through his blue hair.

"Let's go Orihime," Ichigo said not unkindly, "Hueco Mundo is not a place for humans, I'm sure you've understood that by now."

"That's true. But I'm not human," Orihime replied, "Not entirely. I'm a human shinigami hybrid. And Grimmjow is in this state because of me. I can't leave him here. He's utterly defenceless now and he'll be eaten or killed by other hollows. I won't allow that to happen."

"Woman," Ulquiorra called out. From his emotionless tone, Orihime could gauge that he was extremely angry, "I will take care of Grimmjow you go back to Karakura."

"No," Orihime snapped back, "He's like this because of me, I will heal him."

"Human medications won't work on hollows," Rukia answered, "Let's go."

Without responding Orihime took a deep breath, "Soten Kisshun, I reject!"

The two Shinigamis gasped in surprise as a golden shield spread over Grimmjow and began to heal him rapidly and moments later, Grimmjow started to stir.

"What was that?" Ichigo muttered.

"You said you're half Shinigami?" Rukia breathed, "Is this what you do? You heal?"

"No," Ulquiorra said calmly, "This wasn't healing. She said 'I reject' and Grimmjow's body healed looking like there had never been any kind of injury. She has rejected his injury. That's her power. She can reject an event, an occurrence."

"Yes," Orihime replied, as Grimmjow began to sit up, "This is my Zanapakuto. They're my …"

"Shun Shun Rikka," Ulquiorra finished her statement making all four look at him in surprise. Oblivious to everyone else around him, Ulquiorra was looking at Orihime as if seeing her for the first time, "Akazumi?"


	24. Chapter 22

Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, I haven't updated this since May 2013. Is anybody still following this fic? I highly doubt it. In the unlikely case that anyone is still interested in this fic, I apologize deeply. My Ulquihime muse had dried up completely. I would open the documents and stare at them for hours. They would stare back at me, as if taunting me, daring me to write.

An unexpected incident brought me back to Ulquihime and as a result I could pen this chapter. There are about 2-3 more chapters to go in this fic. I hope that I can finish this fic while the muse lasts. I really hope I can give you the next chapter ASAP, fingers crossed!

This chapter is not beta'd.

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 22<span>**

Orihime took a shaking breath, "Tsuruga?"

The two Shinigamis stared at her, their faces bearing identical expressions of confusion. Grimmjow however had sprung to his feet, his demeanour watchful. Unaware of her companions' reactions Orihime smiled through the joyous tears brimming in her eyes and walked towards Ulquiorra. She had taken but a couple of steps when a hand grasped her elbow tightly. Expecting it to be Ichigo, she spun, a verbal diatribe ready on the tip of her tongue but to her intense surprise, it was Grimmjow who was holding her.

"Don't go near him," the blue-haired hollow warned.

"What? Why? He finally remembers…"

"And that is the problem," he muttered, his sapphire eyes fixed on the Vasto Lorde who stood completely unmoving, his wings and tail folded and his head bowed. His hands hung limply by his side. So still was he that one would be forgiven if they thought him to be made of stone.

Orihime looked from one hollow to the other, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

"Hollows are not supposed to remember their human lives," Grimmjow's tones carried a latent urgency. "This can't be good. In fact, this is pretty fucking bad!"

"How so?" Orihime queried, her eyes fixed on Ulquiorra, who was still unmoving.

Most unexpectedly, it was Rukia who intervened, "This is just a theory, but if a Hollow remembers his past life ... there might be a good chance that he also remembers the madness that made him forget all about it in the first place."

Orihime whirled around, her eyes widened, "What?"

"She's right," Grimmjow spoke up. "This can't be…"

A loud, blood curdling yell interrupted Grimmjow and the four of them whipped their heads to look at Ulquiorra whose head was thrown back, his mouth opened in a scream of agony. He clawed at his chest, gnawing deep gashes into the skin which healed instantaneously. But the blood that trickled down his wounds lined his chest, drawing thick red lines on his marble skin. His reiatsu started to peak uncontrollably and had actually become visible, emanating out of him in an upward spiral of green, pulsating energy. Some distance away, Orihime started to sway on her feet but Rukia grabbed her am tightly. Ulquiorra unfolded his wings and with a loud flap he took flight.

"SHIT!" Ichigo yelled just as Grimmjow screamed, "RUN!"

The other three didn't need to be told twice. They ran at full tilt but Ulquiorra was airborne and hence much faster. Grimmjow and Ichigo, being taller and better built, had taken the lead with Rukia and Orihime bringing the rear. Within seconds, he swooped down on them. Orihime barely had a moment to see a black shadow from the corner of her eyes before she felt taloned hands grasp her by the arms and felt herself being lifted in air, eliciting a surprised shriek from her.

"Orihime!" Rukia screamed.

The other two halted in their tracks and turned.

"Ulquiorra!" Ichigo screamed, "Let her go!"

Grimmjow took a leap skidded to a halt mid-air. Using Reishi as his platform, he ran after Ulquiorra who seemed to be flying higher and higher. Moments later, Ichigo and Rukia too joined in the pursuit. The three ran at full speed, but the Vasto Lorde managed to keep his distance from them.

"We have to do something!" Rukia heaved.

"On it!" Ichigo shouted and sliced his Zanapakuto through the air screaming "Getsuga Tenshou!"

"YOU FUCKING MORON!" Grimmjow growled and shunpo'ed in front of the attack to deflect it. "Orihime is with him you asshole, she'll get hurt!"

Meanwhile, Orihime was doing all she could to save herself. After having tried unsuccessfully to pry herself from his claws, she did the only thing that she could think of.

"Sorry Ulquiorra, this is going to hurt," she whispered. "Koten Zanshun, I reject!"

Tsubaki shot out of her hairpin and sliced through Ulquiorra's hands, forcing him to drop her. Given his hierro and instant regeneration, Tsubaki's damage had been minimal, but she had attained her objective. With her gone there was no stopping Ichigo who decided to attack Ulquiorra with his full might. He lifted his Zanapakuto and prepared for an attack, but Grimmjow wouldn't have any of it. The hollow fired a cero at Ichigo, forcing the Shinigami to block.

"What the hell Grimmjow? Is this a time for us to fight?"

"I'm trying to save you from your own stupidity you moron!" Grimmjow shot back.

Rukia reached Orihime just as the later landed on the sand. Ulquiorra, having completed his regeneration, flew around the Shinigami and Hollow who were locked in a fierce battle.

"Run!" Rukia said, placing herself between the approaching Hollow and Orihime, holding her Zanpakuto aloft. Realizing that she was Ulquiorra's target, Orihime sprang from the sand and started to run, sending a silent prayer for Rukia's safety. If anyone of the four got hurt in this melee, she knew she would never forgive herself.

Above their heads, Grimmjow had knocked Ichigo's Zanpakuto off his hands rather effortlessly and was now pummelling the Shinigami much like a punching bag. On the ground, Rukia parted her legs slightly and dug her heels, waiting for Ulquiorra's attack. The Vasto Lorde, despite his madness seemed to understand that as long as Rukia was standing, he couldn't reach to his target. But the small Shinigami presented no threat to the powerful hollow. He swatted her out of the way using his tail, as if she were but a fly and continued on his pursuit.

Hearing Rukia's exclamation of pain, Orihime slowed to a halt. Her eye flew wide when she saw Ulquiorra approaching her, his eyes sparkling with complete madness. He was closing the distance at a frightening speed and Orihime wondered if this was the end of her when suddenly and quite unexpectedly, a figure stood in between them. The tall, lean man was dressed in a pristine white overcoat, with a lining of grey fur with a pair of tight black pants. He had knee-length fur boots and fur arm-warmers. Strands of ribbon bandoleers ran from his upper back to his upper forearms. Strangely, he seemed to be carrying two pistols.

"Ulquiorra, stop," the man drawled in an almost bored voice. "You're a Vasto Lorde, not a Menos to attack like this."

Astonishingly, Ulquiorra came to a halt, sizing up his opponent.

"Shinigami," the newcomer called. "Take the hybrid and leave. You lot shouldn't have come to Hueco Mundo to begin with."

Orihime looked at Rukia who was being helped by a blonde woman who was scantily dressed in a short, bony skirt and knee-high boots. Her hollow mask extended down to her breast, covering her nipples but the rest was uncovered. The woman clicked her fingers and the air tore open. The man in front of Orihime pushed her roughly towards the Garganta.

"Go and never come back," the tall hollow ordered.

"But Ulquiorra…" Orihime began but the blonde woman cut her off. "We'll take care of him," she said in a soft voice. "Go."

Rukia didn't need to be told again. She grasped Orihime's hand and rushed into the Garganta. The last thing that Orihime saw before the Garganta closed was the taller man fire a shot at the man she loved.

"Ulquiorra!"

* * *

><p>Orihime was pacing around her apartment nervously. Having been healed by her, Rukia sat on the couch following the agitated woman with her eyes.<p>

"Please God," Orihime was muttering under her breath. "Let them be alright. Please, God, please!"

"Why did you go to Hueco Mundo?" Rukia asked. "And why did Ulquiorra call you Akazumi? Who is Akazumi?"

Before Orihime could answer, the door to her apartment was kicked open by a wounded Grimmjow who walked in with the unconscious forms of Ichigo and Ulquiorra on his shoulder and under his arms.

"Sorry, would've knocked but my hands are kinda full," he said sarcastically.

He dumped the injured Ichigo on the floor unceremoniously and then gingerly lowered Ulquiorra on the couch, which was funny because the later looked like he was merely asleep while the former looked battle worn and severely wounded.

"What happened Grimmjow?" Orihime asked concerned as she enveloped him in her shield. "Who were those two? Why were they helping us?"

He took a deep sigh, "Don't think for a moment that they were helping us. They were merely there so that they could handle the crisis with minimal damage to Hueco Mundo. One Espada died, they were there to ensure that another one didn't bite the dust. They told me to take these two and vamoose from there. I'm not allowed to show my pretty face there for the next fifty fucking years."

"I'm so sorry Grimmjow," Orihime whispered slowly.

"So who were they?" Rukia questioned. Orihime had moved from Grimmjow to Ichigo, draping her healing shield over him.

The hollow slumped on a chair and said, "Coyote Starrk and Tier Hallibel. Two of the top four Espadas."

"So they were Vasto Lordes?" Orihime wondered as Ichigo was beginning to stir.

Grimmjow nodded tiredly, "Ulquiorra should be up soon, thanks to his regenerative powers. Hopefully he'll be normal or as normal as the fucking bat could be."

Orihime heaved a sigh of relief and settled on a chair by Rukia who spoke next. "Can I ask something?"

On the floor Ichigo was pushing himself up from the floor with a groan. On the chair, Orihime looked at Rukia, waiting for her question. "Why did you go to Hueco Mundo? And who exactly are Akazumi and Tsuruga?"

"I'm Akazumi," Orihime answered. "Ulquiorra is Tsuruga. Or rather was. Those were our names in a past life when we were lovers. I was reincarnated as Orihime while Tsuruga became Ulquiorra. I wanted to know what happened to him that he became a Vasto Lorde."

Ichigo's eyebrows rose, "How romantic! And you thought you would get your answers in Hueco Mundo? Priceless! What did you find, other than putting everyone's lives in danger?"

"Ulquiorra regained his memories," Grimmjow pointed out. "Maybe if you paused to think for bit, you'd have realized it. But I guess that's too fucking much for you."

"And you!" Ichigo pointed a finger at the hollow. "Why the fuck were you doing, beating me up like that?"

"Like I said, I was saving you from your own stupidity. You were about to attack a crazed Vasto Lorde, what did you think would happen? You'd have been evaporated without a trace. So a fucking 'thanks' is in order I presume?"

"Guys!" Rukia interjected. "This is not the time for fights. Ichigo, don't you think we should tell Urahara about our return."

A soft groan from the couch drew everyone's attention. Slowly Ulquiorra sat up, clutching his head. He sat there for a while as the remaining watched him with apprehension. He lifted his head and looked from one ashen face to the other questioningly. He seemed to realize that he was in the world of living and quickly changed to his human form.

"How do you feel Ulquiorra?" Orihime asked tentatively.

"Tired," he replied slowly. "Remembering events spanning over centuries is unpleasant."

"So you're back to… normal?" Ichigo ventured delicately.

Wordlessly Ulquiorra nodded.

Rukia sighed, "Well this was an unpleasant evening, but I guess that's all there is to it. I think we should leave now."

"What if Orihime decides to go back once we leave?" Ichigo objected.

"I'm not that stupid Ichigo!" Orihime snapped. "I'm sorry that my idiocy made you all risk your lives. I can't thank you all enough, but rest assured, there will never be a repeat. NEVER!"

Ichigo looked reluctant to leave but Rukia managed to drag him away. Grimmjow too bid his farewell claiming that he'd have enough excitement to last him for a while. The ensuing silence was deafening as they sat looking everywhere but at each other. When the silence stretched to the point of being awkward, Orihime stood up and declared, "I'm making some coffee. You want some?"

Ulquiorra shook his head in negative. "We should talk."

Orihime turned to look at him, "You remember everything?"

He nodded.

"Just tell me, was it because of me that Tsuruga became a hollow?"

He sighed, "Tsuruga couldn't leave. Akazumi didn't let go of him. But she didn't turn him into a hollow. He was driven over the edge by her death."

Orihime pursed her lips and turned away from him. She couldn't bear to look at Ulquiorra for all the emotions that were welling up inside of her. She wanted to rush to him, hug him, kiss him, tell him how sorry she was that he was a hollow because of her and how if she could, she would love to undo the damage she'd done. She stood there, her head bowed and her eyes closed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to him… me," Ulquiorra said haltingly. "You didn't know, you're not to be blamed."

She brushed his hand off and turned to look at him, her face distraught. "I'm not to be blamed? How am I not to be blamed Ulquiorra? You went through centuries of torment because of me. I held on to you. In my selfish grief I have condemned you to a horrible fate. You were warm, friendly, gentle, and forgiving and now look at you. You're cold, harsh, unfeeling and dead. And it's all because of me. I did this to you!"

"Unfeeling?" Ulquiorra repeated. "I haven't ceased to feel simply because I'm dead. I do feel I'm just unable to show."

"But you always said not to associate human emotions with you."

"After going through the madness of hollowfication, little, if any of the original self remains," he elaborated. "I'd forgotten everything about my human life and the emotions associated with it. I'd spent centuries not feeling a thing. But then you came and everything changed. You evoked feelings I wasn't prepared for. I'd deluded myself that it was simply because of your unusual circumstances but then you went to Hueco Mundo. I can't even begin to explain how scared I was. Seeing Nnoitra there, the worst of my fears were confirmed."

"Ulquiorra," she murmured softly.

He entwined a strand of her hair in his fingers, "Do you know why Sora attacked you when he was close to becoming a hollow?"

Her heart thudding loudly, Orihime shook her head. She had a feeling that Ulquiorra was about to tell her something very important.

"Hollows tend to attack the person they're most attached to in their lives. The human they love the most," he said softly. "For a moment there in Hueco Mundo, I retrogressed to my baser, animalistic self. I lost my identity as a Vasto Lorde and became the basic hollow and I did what all hollows do. I attacked you. Will you forgive me for that?"

It took Orihime a few seconds to figure out the real meaning of his words. Upon understanding, her lips slowly started to stretch in a smile. Without a word, she threw her arms around him, enveloping him in a tight embrace. His hands went around her, encircling her waist.

"I'm so sorry Ulquiorra," she cried into the crook of his neck. "I never wanted you to go through all that. Had I known that a trip to Hueco Mundo would come at such a high cost, I'd have never gone there. Not only did I endanger Grimmjow, Rukia and Ichigo, I put you through the same agony, all over again! Just because I needed to face Urahara for answers? If my answers come at the cost of my friends lives and your sanity, then I don't need them. I'm fine as I am. I can't …"

"Orihime," Ulquiorra cut her rambling in a soft but authoritative voice. "Don't quit now. Not after everything that you've been through. You need answers and as do I. Your answers are not separate from mine, are they?"

Despite her tears, she smiled against his skin. "Ulquiorra, I love you."

He didn't answer, but pulled her closer into his embrace. Finding each other after centuries, the two lovers were lost in each other. Such was their joy that they didn't see the unexpected visitor who was standing by the door which Grimmjow had left open, watching the scene unfold.


	25. Chapter 25

Hey, I'm back. Just one more chapter to go. I so hope that I can get it done soon. Thanks for your continued support. I'm flattered.

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 23<span>**

Slowly, without making a sound, Uryuu Ishida stepped out of the apartment. He didn't want to be spotted by either of them. It was bad enough that he'd walked in on the woman he loved hugging another man but what was worse was that he's heard her declaring her love for that same man. To top it all up, the man seemed to be responding. He rushed down the stairs as fast as he could and made it to his car. A sharp pain rose deep within him and he clutched his chest, face contorted in a tortured grimace. A shaking breath slowly escaped his lips just as a tear escaped his eye.

"Why?" he asked, to whom he didn't know. "Why? What is wrong? Why?"

Somebody tapped on his shoulder. Uryuu whipped around, ready to punch whoever was disrupting this private moment. The sight that met his eyes made him do a double take. In front of him stood a tall man with pale blond hair, sticking out in different angles from under his green and white striped hat. His clothes matched his hat and he had an odd, old-fashioned cloak on.

"Stop whining," the man said not unkindly. "You're not to be blamed."

Uryuu blinked, his pain forgotten owing to the appearance of the bizarre man. "Sorry, do I know you?"

The man shook his head, "No, you've never met me."

"Then how do you know what my problem is?"

The man grinned, "I said you've never met me. I didn't say I haven't met you, did I?"

"What? That makes no sense!" Uryuu retorted.

The man threw back his head and laughed, "Sense? Much of the world doesn't make sense, and that's what makes it worth living. What say Uryuu Ishida?"

The black haired man took a step back, his body alert. "How do you know my name?" his tone was brusque and demanding.

"Like I said," the man said in a singsong voice. "You don't know me, but I know you. I know everything about you."

Getting increasingly flustered, Uryuu gripped the hood of his car, "What do you mean?"

"Twenty four years of age. The only son of Ryuuken and Katagiri Ishida," the man was counting on his fingers as he listed what he knew about Uryuu. "Five feet nine and a half inches tall. You possess an extraordinarily high IQ of 137. Ryuuken wanted you to be a Neuro-surgeon but you were more interested in Fashion designing. Rebelled against your totalitarian father at the age of fourteen and moved to your grandparent's house and haven't spoken to him since then. Now you are well on your way to become a very talented and renowned name in the fashion industry. Have been in love with Orihime Inoue almost all your life. Oh and you had a dog named Snuffy at the age of four. You cried a lot when it died."

Uryuu's eyes flew wide. Depressed, scared and worried, he did the first thing that crossed his mind, although it was uncharacteristic for him. He threw his fist at the grinning man. The man's demeanour changed instantly as he blocked the punch rather effortlessly.

"Don't take it personally Uryuu Ishida," he said in a business-like voice. "It's not you. I have scrutinized anyone who's come in touch with Orihime Inoue."

Not expecting that answer, Uryuu dropped his hand. "Why?"

"She's special to me. I needed to make sure that she isn't harmed."

A disturbing thought crossed Uryuu's mind, "You sick old pervert!"

To his intense surprise, the man chuckled, "I can see why that thought would occur to you, but trust me, I prefer women closer to my age. Orihime is actually… my responsibility. She's my ward."

"She has parents," Uryuu replied tersely. "Tell me the whole truth. Who are you and what do you want?"

"Ah! Apologies! I haven't introduced myself, have I? How rude of me!" The man bowed, tipping his hat slightly, "I'm Kisuke Urahara. Pleased to have finally shown you my face."

"Why have you been spying on Orihime, and don't give me the 'she's my ward' bullshit. I know there's more to the story."

"Indeed there is, but you don't need to know it," Urahara said. "What you do need to know is, you're not at fault. There's nothing you could have done to make her love you. Orihime and Ulquiorra, they're destined to be together. I just want to tell you to give up and move on. Find yourself a better girl. Ryo Kunieda has harboured a thing for you for a while, you should go to her."

Uryuu had had enough of it, "Listen up old man, whoever you are, if you know so much about me, you know what I can do. You've really angered me and so I suggest you run. Run fast and hide, for I'm going to look for you, hunt you down and destroy you."

Uarahara laughed heartily, "By all means, go ahead. I would love to see you try. See you later Uryuu Ishida or not."

Before Uryuu could say anything, the man waved and walked away. Uryuu paused for a few seconds and then decided to follow him. He took a few of steps after him but to his immense surprise, there was no sign of the weird, creepy old man. He seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

* * *

><p><em>"Tsuruga!" his friend grasped the young man's arms tightly. "Don't you realize what you're doing?"<em>

_Tsuruga smiled, "Relax! Nothing will go wrong. Love is a wonderful thing."_

_The Shinigami shook his head, "Love? And what about your duty? Your loyalty to your family? Don't they count?"_

_"Kisuke," Tsuruga said in patient tones, "Love is bigger than everything. It is our destiny to be together. Duty, loyalty, familial ties – they're important, but not nearly as much as love. For too long our families have been marked with hatred and bitterness. It is time for the darkness to go and let love spread the light. Zumi and I will do it. We will bridge our families together."_

_"Listen to yourself!" the young Shinigami shouted. "That woman has the power of the devil, you told me about them yourself. How can you associate with someone like that?"_

_"That's the power of the Gods, not the devil. Don't ever say that again."_

_Urahara changed tack, "So you think her God- like powers will help you bridge the gap of hatred? These words look good in a book. There's no place for them in real life. Wake up Tsuruga!"_

_Tsuruga merely smiled. _

* * *

><p><em>She was in her garden, picking flowers when suddenly someone ran up to her. Someone she had met only once.<em>

_"Urahara- san?"_

_Tears were streaming down his eyes as he kneeled in front of her, "Help him! Forgive me Akazumi San, but help him. I'm forbidden from attacking humans, but you can help him with your powers. Please, help him!"_

_She frowned, "Help who? What are you talking about Urahara San?"_

_"Tsuruga!" the Shinigami screamed clutching his hair. "I thought I was helping him. I went to your father and told him about you both."_

_The basket dropped from her hands as her eyes flew wide. Without thinking, her hand made a resounding contact with the Shinigami's cheek. "And you call yourself his friend?"_

_"Please," the young boy sobbed. "Help him. They'll kill him."_

_Akazumi ran with the Shinigami following on her heels. The duo reached the scene that looked straight from nightmares. The entire clans of Ishikaga and Miyagi stood facing each other, their swords drawn. Amidst the blood thirsty Miyagi men stood a bloodied, bruised and heavily injured Tsuruga. _

_"Tsuruga!" Akazumi screamed, drawing the attention of thirty or so enraged men. _

_"And here comes the Miyagi wench," one Ishikaga spat. _

_"Watch your mouth Ishikaga!" one of her brothers screamed. _

_"STOP!" Akazumi pleaded. "Please everyone, stop! Don't harm him! He's done nothing!"_

_"You stay out of this Akazumi," her father ordered. "I will punish you once I'm done with him."_

_"YOU will punish her?" Tsuruga's father said derisively. "How is that fair? If you're going to kill my son, it's only fair that we kill your daughter!"_

_"You will not touch her!" her brother yelled._

_"Then hand Tsuruga over, we will deal with him."_

_The offer was met with silence._

_"Hand Tsuruga over or there's going to be a war and innocent blood will be spilled," the Ishikaga patriarch said. "You can deal with your daughter as you deem fit and we'll take care of our son as we deem right."_

_"No father!" Akazumi breathed. She caught Tsuruga's eyes, who shook his head slightly telling her to stay quiet._

_It was the Miyagi patriarch who spoke next, "Fine. Hand the boy over."_

_"But Ojichan…," her brother began heatedly but her grandfather held up a hand. _

_"Both clans know how to fight," the old man explained. "I do not want to lose my sons and grandsons for an errant granddaughter. Hand the boy over."_

_Akazumi watched, trembling to her toes as Tsuruga stumbled and limped towards his family. He had barely made it up them when the Miyagi patriarch walked up to him. The shriek never escaped her mouth when she saw the blade slit his throat in one swift motion. As Tsuruga's limp, lifeless body fell, darkness overtook Akazumi. _

* * *

><p><em>The pain! The excruciating, all prevailing pain! It threatened to take over his self, making him want to do things. It hurt the most when she cried and she cried all the time. Locked in that small, dark room, she simply laid and cried. He watched as she grew bigger and bigger, but he didn't understand why. Her pain hurt him but he couldn't look away. She kept calling out for him, touching her big stomach.<em>

_One man came to visit her sometimes but he too only gave her food and walked away. She spent her days alone in that cramped space and that hurt him. Why? Who was she? Oh the hunger!_

_Today she was screaming louder than ever before and no one came. Seeing her twisted in agony made him angry. She was calling out his name, withering in agony yet no one paid heed. An older woman sat outside the door, crying but the three men who stood outside didn't let her go in. She was hurting badly and that was driving him mad. He was hungry, very hungry. Maybe if he ate her, it would end the torture for both?_

_She arched, screamed and suddenly she started to bleed. He watched as she shivered, moaned and then let out a high, piercing yell. Blood gushed out of her in rivers, drowning her and something started to emerge from between her legs. But she had stopped moving. Why wasn't she moving? She wasn't even screaming. Why?_

_The doors of the room suddenly burst open and the woman came in, crying. It was then that he saw her. She stood by the door, watching everything dispassionately. But how could that be? She was here, in front of him, lying in the pool of her own blood. A bright light shone from within her and then she was gone. All that was left of her was that bloodied, unmoving body. _

_An unparalleled rage and hunger encompassed him. He let out a loud shriek. The next thing he knew, the older woman and those three men lay on the floor, motionless, their eyes closed. _

* * *

><p>Orihime sobbed softly, her head buried into the crook of Ulquiorra's neck. He stroked her hair gently, letting her cry. Unhindered and unrestricted, she cried; for Tsuruga and his unfair death, for Akazumi's imprisonment, for the death of their child, for Tsuruga's spirit who became Ulquiorra and finally for herself. These were her tears and Ulquiorra's, the ones which he couldn't shed. Once the pain flowed out, she looked up into the viridian eyes and asked the one thing she didn't understand. "How come Akazumi didn't use Shun Shun Rikka?"<p>

Lying next to her, Ulquiorra frowned a little, "What do you mean? You don't remember?"

She shook her head, "The last thing I remember is her grandfather imprisoning her. I don't remember anything after that."

Ulquiorra hummed. "I'm not sure I fully understand human emotions yet but I'm positing this theory based on what I do know of humans. I don't think she even remembered that she had the power to save herself. Or the will to live. I think she'd either lost or was very close to losing her mind."

"They were cruel," Orihime muttered, wiping her residual tears. "Just because they wanted to maintain some stupid status quo, they killed three innocent individuals. One of whom died before it was even born. Did they have any idea how far-reaching the consequences would be? How many years, how many centuries it would take for their hate to die? You… you're a direct outcome of their mindless disgust. They…"

"Humans don't often think the consequences of their actions," Ulquiorra interrupted her. "Did you think what your actions were doing to your brother? Did Uryuu Ishida pause to think how dangerous it could be to befriend the stranger that he met on the street? No. Not because humans don't want to, simply because they're ill equipped to do so."

Orihime nodded. "You're right. They're long gone; I shouldn't hold a grudge against them, even if they were downright inhuman."

Ulquiorra nodded, "That's wise. You shouldn't hold on to hate. It never bodes well."

She nodded slowly and lapsed into silence. After a while she stared at him and asked, "Ulquiorra, can I kiss you?"

His eyes showed a flicker of confusion, "Why do you have to ask?"

Her smile was bright and glorious. She swiftly closed the distance and placed her lips on his. His embrace tightened as he pulled her closer to himself, delving deeper into her mouth. With the return of his memories, he now knew there was nothing wrong with desiring her, wanting her as his mate because that's exactly what she was. His fears, his doubts were all put to rest as he gave in to his long held wish.

He turned around, placing himself over her as he slowly moved from her lips down to her jaw and throat, gently placing scalding kisses all over. Orihime arched, allowing him greater access. Her eyes closed inadvertently as her arms went around him, her fingers interlacing around his hair. The two souls who had lost themselves for centuries found each other again as their new bodies discovered each other that night.

* * *

><p>Orihime's peaceful slumber was broken by the sound of someone huffing and panting. She rubbed her eyes to get rid of her sleep and sat up, trying to figure out what was going on. In the light of the bedside lamp, she saw Ulquiorra was on the floor down on all fours, heaving. She hurried down the bed and crouched next to him, her face crumpled with concern. "Ulquiorra! What's happening?"<p>

He didn't answer and continued to pant.

"Ulquiorra!"

"My hollow hole," he heaved. "It burns!"

"What? Why? Has that happened before?"

Not answering her, he tore his shirt and gaped at the hole. His pants increased as he shivered uncontrollably. Orihime pulled him into her embrace, trying to calm him down. To her surprise, he suddenly stopped moving and slumped into her lap unconscious.


	26. Chapter 26

_Finally, after more than an year, (actually after one year and forty two days) I'm updating the last chapter of this story. It's an odd feeling really. I'm elated to be able to finally put an end to this story in a satisfactory way. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for sticking to this story through all this time. Although I'd started this story almost 3 years ago, today as I end it, I realize that not much has changed. The ending remains exactly as I had visualized it. The last scene of this chapter was with me from the moment I conceptualized the story and I hope you all will find it to be a proper end to the story. There is an epilogue, don't miss that. _

_I'll take this time to also give an update about my other stories and what's happening in my life. My Ulquihime muse is dead. Things just don't come to me anymore. This chapter has taken a more than a year to take shape, surely that tells you something. Anyway, here's a snapshot update on all my fics. _

_**Loved you Twice Over:-** On temporary hold._

_**Trust to Hope:-** On hold, indefinitely._

_**Lost in Time:-** Discontinued._

_And as for me, I felt like I'd stopped learning from fanfics and it was time for me to move on to other things. Now I'm concentrating on original novels and I must say I'm enjoying every minute of it. _

_Finally, I'd like to thank Cerice Belle without whom I could do nothing. Love you girl, you're the best!_

_As usual, R&R._

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><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

Blue eyebrows knitted together in a tight frown as Grimmjow looked at the unconscious, prone form of Ulquiorra. Beside him, Orihime stood fidgeting with her fingers nervously.

"What's wrong with him Grimmjow? Why is he not getting up?"

The hollow shook his head, "Fuck! I honestly don't know. I've never seen something like this in my life… death… fuck I don't know. I don't know. Where the fuck are the two Shinigamis? Aren't they supposed to be guarding you? Fuck all job they do of it!"

Orihime opened her mouth to reply but a familiar voice from the door interrupted them, "Missing us already, Adjucas?"

The two spun on their heels to find Ichigo and Rukia standing at the door. The shorter Shinigami quirked an eyebrow at her partner and walked into Orihime's apartment. She kneeled next to the couch where Ulquiorra lay almost motionless, completely ignoring the staring contest between Grimmjow and Ichigo.

"How long has he been like this?" Rukia asked.

Orihime crouched next to her, "Two hours now. I don't know what's going on."

"His reiatsu's all over the place," Rukia muttered worriedly.

"I don't know what's going on," Orihime said again. "What do I do?"

Meanwhile Ichigo sauntered in, his eyes still glaring at the Adjucas. "Is there anything you can do about it Rukia?"

The small Shinigami shook her head, "This is beyond me."

Orihime crumpled on to the floor, clutching her hair in her fists, "If only I had not gone to Hueco Mundo on that fool's errand. All of this is my fault."

"Yeah, it kinda is," Ichigo spoke, earning a dirty glare from Rukia.

"So you can't do jackshit," Rukia shook her head at Grimmjow's question. "Well then, call your boss. That Urahara guy. It's about fucking time that the fucker showed his mug."

Ichigo stood up straighter, "Oh hell no! I'm not calling him just 'cause you ask."

Something stirred in Orihime's mind and she shot up to her feet, "Call him Ichigo. NOW. I want to meet him. It's high time he showed up."

"No!" Ichigo insisted. "Look Orihime…"

"Shh," Rukia interrupted, her cell phone held up to her ear. "Urahara, we need you at Orihime's apartment."

A couple of monosyllable answers later, Rukia hung up and almost instantly Ichigo erupted. "What the hell Rukia? You know we're supposed to keep him out of this for as long as we can."

Grimmjow guffawed before Rukia could respond, "Keep him out of this? That's fucking priceless!"

Ichigo spun to stare at the hollow, "The hell do you mean?"

"You don't even know what the fuck is going on, do you?" Grimmjow asked silkily. "You clueless lamb. Urahara is neck deep in this shit. He's the one who's pulling all the strings you asshole. Open your eyes and see it."

"What do you mean?" Rukia asked, still sitting on the floor.

It was Orihime who responded, "My entire life has been the result of Urahara's meddling. He is the one who betrayed Tsuruga, resulting in his death. That grief resulted in Akazumi's death and eventually Tsuruga's hollowfication. When Akazumi was reborn as me, he was the one who took me away from my biological parents and gave me to the Inoues. He was the one who placed the seal on my reiatsu. He's been watching me all my life, taking decisions for me. Whatever mess I am in, he is responsible for it. It's high time he spoke up."

Ichigo looked like he wanted to protest but Rukia stood up and said, "He seems to agree with you. He's on his way and should be here any minute."

The four slipped into a strained silence, the women looking at Ulquiorra and the men staring at each other, hostility radiating off them in waves. It was an uncomfortable five minutes before a knock sounded on the door.

"Good evening everyone," the haori clad Shinigami said jauntily, walking in the apartment with a bounce on his steps. "Or maybe I should say good night given the time, but that would mean a farewell and not a greeting right?"

Orihime and Grimmjow could only gape while Rukia rolled her eyes. Ichigo apparently had no patience for the older shinigami's flippancy and screamed, "Why are you here? I thought you wanted to stay hidden?"

"Yes, but now it was time I showed up," Urahara replied casually as he strode over to Ulquiorra and studied the unconscious hollow carefully. "His reiatsu is erratic and jumpy. Fascinating."

Orihime's eyes narrowed, "_Fascinating?_" her voice sounded shrill to her own ears. "He's lying unconscious and all you can say is 'fascinating'? Is there anything you can do about it?"

Urahara shook his head, "No. But surely you know that Orihime. This is your doing after all."

"What?" four voices chorused at the same time.

Urahara's lips twitched in a small smile, "Think back Orihime. What happened with Sora?"

"Sora?" Orihime whispered. "What does he have to do with all this?"

"Shinigami, stop dicking around," Grimmjow spat. "Tell us straight what you mean."

Urahara tsked, "For an immortal being, you really have no patience. Just giving an answer won't help anyone. Orihime needs to understand what's going on. So on to Sora. What happened to him after he attacked you Orihime."

"Ulquiorra deflected his attack and he fled," she answered puzzled.

"Then?"

"Then… Ulquiorra told me to let him go and I did."

"And?"

"And Sora stopped being a hollow and became a ghost."

"Bingo."

"Wait," Rukia interrupted. "You mean to say that somehow Ulquiorra is reversing his hollowfication?"

"That's fucking ridiculous!" Grimmjow spat. "Ulquiorra is not a two bit hollow who can be changed."

"Exactly," Ichigo agreed. "Besides, from what I know, Sora was not a hollow but on the verge of being one. Ulquiorra is a Vasto Lorde. How could the two be the same?"

Urahara nodded, "I'm not saying they're same. But yes, Ulquiorra is reversing his hollowfication. Thanks to Orihime."

"How?" she breathed.

"There is a reason why hollows forget their past," Urahara answered. "Their past grounds them to their humanity. By forgetting it, the hollow moves away from its humanity. But remembering its past can be very dangerous for a hollow."

"No shit!" Grimmjow drawled. "He went all batspada on our collective asses here."

"You all were lucky that Starrk and Hallibel showed up when they did," Urahara replied, a hint of steel in his voice. "Otherwise you all could've been Ulquiorra's next meal."

When the macabre and sombre proclamation met with complete silence Urahara continued, "Yes, remembering his past meant that he remembered his madness as well. But that's not all. By remembering his past, he has re-forged the connection he'd lost with his humanity. Normally that alone might not be enough for him to reverse his hollowfication, he's a Vasto Lorde after all. He needs more, something that Orihime gave him. He needs to bond with the human he loved while he was a human himself."

"When you say bonding-," Grimmjow began but Orihime overrode him hurriedly. "Technicalities don't matter. What matters is what's going to happen now?"

"That, I don't know," Urahara said sheepishly. "I just know that in theory it's possible. But you see… something like this has never happened."

"Wait!" Rukia said, her eyes narrowing shrewdly. "How long have you known about this 'theory'?"

"A couple of centuries now," he answered with a big grin. "Took quite a bit of research I admit."

Something clicked in Orihime's mind and she strode straight up to the Shinigami, her eyes narrowed, "A couple of centuries huh? Why do I have the feeling that all this 'research' has something to do with me? Or better still, my very existence?"

"No, no Orihime," Ichigo began. "Surely you're being dramatic."

"No she isn't," Grimmjow piped up. "If something smells like shit, it probably is"

"Nice proverb," Ichigo drawled sarcastically. Completely missing the snark, the hollow grinned, "Isn't it? Made it myself."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Ignoring the two, Urahara smiled at Orihime, "Not just you Orihime, it has to do with all three of us. I owed Tsuruga and Akazumi a debt. This was my repayment."

Not expecting the answer, all Orihime could do was gape at him.

For the first time a trace of sorrow showed on Urahara's face as he settled down on a chair, "As you probably have figured out by now, I was the Shinigami that betrayed Tsuruga. I honestly didn't know how far reaching the consequences of my action would be. I was young and naïve and idealistic. I was firmly convinced that Tsuruga was making a mistake. I thought that by telling the Miyagis, I was helping him. I never thought it would result in their deaths. And then, I slowly saw Tsuruga descend into complete madness and I was responsible for it. I watched him for centuries as he moved from being a basic hollow to a Vasto Lorde, completely moving away from who he was and I was to blame."

He cast his eyes at the still unmoving form of Ulquiorra before continuing, "I was desperate. I wanted to do something. Took me a long time to find out that there was a way to reverse hollowfication. I just needed to find Akazumi. Not an easy task because she was part human and part Shinigami. Meaning she could be anywhere, Rukongai or Seireitei. I searched everywhere for her for decades before I found her in a small district of Rukongai. Not surprisingly, she didn't want to listen to me. It wasn't until I showed her what happened to Tsuruga that she was willing to listen."

"Meanwhile, a Shinigami friend of mine fell in love with a human woman and they were expecting a child. I convinced Akazumi to be born as their kid. However, as luck would have it, my Shinigami friend died. The grief was unsettling for his wife and she died soon after childbirth."

"And so you gave me to the Inoues, without telling them what I was or what to expect? Genius move!"

Urahara gave a half smile, "Yes, I didn't think things would go as they did. I had planned to come over and explain things to them soon. But time passes differently in Earth and for supernatural beings. When I did finally come, I was too late. The Inoues were already scared and they weren't willing to listen to me. A few years later, Sora came to me and I explained everything to him. He was the one who asked me to wipe your memories and block off your reiatsu till such time that you are mature enough to understand and deal with the situation. We were planning to do that on your twenty fourth birthday."

"But Sora died before that," Orihime whispered.

"Yes. I somehow didn't think you would take my words as truth, given that we'd never met. So I did the next best thing, led you to the same place Ulquiorra lived in. It helped that the concussion you had weakened the seal enough for your reiatsu to start leaking."

"Wait, lead me to the apartment?"

"A little memory modification," Rukia answered. "Basic Shinigami tactics."

Urahara nodded in agreement, "Once Ulquiorra and you met, it was just a matter of time before things started to fall in place."

"So why are we here?" Ichigo asked.

"Precaution. I didn't think Ulquiorra would harm Orihime, but I needed to be sure that nothing untoward happened. Things were going just as planned when something unexpected happened."

Grimmjow grinned, "I popped up."

"And caused quite a stir," Urahara added. "I was worried things were going to blow up. But somehow, you managed to make things better. You tracked down Orihime's parents. You also took her to Hueco Mundo and while it was a pretty stupid thing to do, on the hind sight, it helped. Your intervention allowed Ulquiorra to remember his past life much faster than he would have if everything was left as it was."

The hollow was ecstatic, "I knew it! I'm the hero!"

"Oh shut up!" Ichigo snapped.

"So I was right. You did plan everything," Orihime said, marginally surprised to realize that she wasn't angry.

"Yes," Urahara agreed

"There's still one question," Ichigo spoke up. "You said I was going to find something at the end of all this."

"Ah yes!" Urahara slapped a hand on his head. "How unmindful of me. Hang on."

He flipped out a phone and dialled a number, "Yeah, time for you to show up. And Ichigo is here."

The four of them exchanged perplexed looks. Silence was awkward and Orihime, unsure of what to do, walked over to Ulquiorra and settled on the floor next to him. Suddenly a loud voice sounded.

"ICHIGO! MY DARLING SON!"

Ichigo's eyes widened, "What the -," He was unable to finish the statement as a fist met with his jaw in a resounding punch.

"What the heck old man!" Ichigo screamed and gave his father a roundhouse kick on his face.

"Ah!" Isshin said, grabbing his jaw. "My son! Always the strong one."

Grimmjow eyed the duo in confusion, leaned towards Rukia and asked in an audible whisper, "Do I wanna know?"

"Probably not."

"Umm Isshin," Urahara said, cutting off the bizarre reunion. "There's someone I want you to meet. Isshin, this is Orihime. Orihime, Isshin. Ichigo's father."

Orihime gave a tentative smile, "Hi."

Isshin however was looking at her as if he had seen a ghost. "Ishiro?"

"Sorry?" Orihime was clueless. But Ichigo seemed to have understood more than anyone else, "Uncle? You mean she is…My uncle was the Shinigami friend you were talking about, Urahara?"

"Indeed."

"She looks exactly like Ishiro," Isshin was saying. "How did you not see it Ichigo?"

The orange haired Shinigami held up a hand, "Hey! I met uncle a long time ago. I didn't exactly remember his face."

"So, it means the two of you are cousins?" Grimmjow asked incredulously, and then guffawed. "Oh man! This is fucking priceless!"

"Sorry to interrupt the happy family reunion, but I need some help here," Ulquiorra's voice startled everyone.

"Ulquiorra!" Orihime ran up to him. "What's going on? How are you feeling?"

"I can't breathe, my chest feels heavy," he said with considerable effort as he pushed the blanket off himself. To everyone's surprise, the hollow hole in his sternum appeared to be shrinking.

"Your hollowfication, it's reversing!" Orihime gasped. "Urahara was right."

Ulquiorra had barely registered the sentence when something unexpected happened. Abruptly, a whorl of green reiatsu escaped from his shrinking hollow hole and enveloped him, eliciting a surprised gasp from everyone in the room. Each pair of eyes was focussed on the mini whirlpool of reiatsu around the hollow, no one quite sure of how to react.

Just as suddenly the whirlpool had started, it dissipated, revealing a heaving Ulquiorra standing on his feet and in his Vasto Lorde form.

"Ulquiorra?" Orihime ventured uncertainly.

He raised a trembling, clawed hand to his sternum, his hollow hole shrinking to a pinprick. He looked up and Orihime discerned a mild shadow of confusion. "This is most disconcerting," Ulquiorra said. "The feeling is not pleasant."

Orihime made to reach up to him when Ulquiorra shook his head, "No. Don't come near me. Something is wrong."

Grimmjow and Orihime exchanged a worried glance and the Adjucas spoke, "What do you mean something's wrong?" He fixed his cerulean gaze on to Urahara and demanded, "What the fuck is going on?"

"I… I don't know," Urahara exclaimed. "I didn't know something like this was going to happen."

"The fuck do you mean you didn't know?" Ichigo screamed surprising everyone. "There's no telling what's going to happen here. Everyone's here. You've possibly put everyone here in danger and –"

Ichigo's uncharacteristic rant was abruptly cut short by a simple "Oh," from Ulquiorra.

Six head swivelled to him and Orihime let out a shrill cry. The miniscule hollow hole had closed and the tip of one of his horns had started to dissolve and turn to ash.

"I see," Ulquiorra said in an absolutely calm voice. "It's time."

"Time?" Orihime whispered. "Time for what?"

"Time for me to go," he answered simply. Nothing in his voice betrayed the fact that he was slowly but steadily disintegrating. "Thank you Orihime for showing me the heart."

"N-n-no," Orihime shuddered.

Ulquiorra raised his taloned hand towards Orihime. Wiping her tears off fiercely she raised her hand but it was a moment too late. Her hand clutched the empty air, his hand dissolving into ash. "No! No! Ulquiorra!"

"Farewell Orihime," were the last words of Ulquiorra Schiffer as he disintegrated completely, leaving behind a softly falling patina of ash. Orihime stood still, her hand still outstretched, clasping on to thin air.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** You a sad panda? Don't be. There be an epilogue._


	27. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Fourteen Years Later**

Ichigo sat on the roof of an apartment, his eyes focussed on a distant point, a pack of popcorn in his hands. Suddenly he sensed a familiar reiatsu and a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Fancy seeing you here Shinigami."

"Back at ya, Adjucas," Ichigo snapped. "I'm just here on patrol duty."

Grimmjow gave a feral grin and sat down next to Ichigo who held out his hand, "Popcorn?"

"Is it caramel?" Grimmjow asked picking up a fistful. "I fucking love the caramel ones."

Ichigo made a face, "Given your potty mouth, I'm surprised by your taste preference."

"Asshole, pot kettle much?" Grimmjow shot back, earning a grin from the Shinigami. "Karakura hasn't changed much though, has it?"

"No, it's still the same."

Grimmjow's expression softened, "How is she?"

"She's doing great," Ichigo answered. "I didn't think she'd adjust to the life of Seireitei so easily but she has really adapted. Of course dad loves her to bits."

Grimmjow gave a nod, grinning proudly, "I knew she'd adjust well. Orihime's a fucking fighter."

"You gotta see who's cousin she is."

"Pfft. Don't flatter yourself bozo. You have zero contribution in that," Grimmjow guffawed. "So, any clues of him?"

Ichigo shook his head, "No. We are still looking but the point is, we don't know if he's in Rukongai or Seretei. We don't even know if he'll look like Tsuruga or Ulquiorra."

"Fuck! That must be hard for her."

"It is," Ichigo agreed. "But she doesn't give up. Says that he spent centuries in torment for her, she can't give up after just fourteen years."

"That chick," Grimmjow muttered under his breath.

The unlikely duo fell silent for a few moments before Ichigo spoke again, "She misses you, you know. Talks about you sometimes."

Grimmjow's smile was uncharacteristically soft, "Tell her I said hi."

"You could visit her sometime you know," Ichigo suggested.

"You fucking out of your mind?" Grimmjow barked laughing. "Can you imagine what would happen if I strode my sexy self into Soul Society? The Shinigami horde would go all ninja on my ass."

"Hey, am I attacking you?" Ichigo asked. "You're alright Adjucas."

Grimmjow tilted his head, "You too Shinigami.

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><p><em><strong>AN:** And with that this story comes to an end. Thank you all very much. I love you all. Adios amigos._

_Lea._

_PS: If and when I publish my novels, my pen name would be "Lea A R". Please do read it. _


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